Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Realms of Iniquity
by mysticdragon01
Summary: A Grovyle with amnesia forms an exploration team with his savior, a Lucario, in hopes of reestablishing his life. But those hopes are crushed when he learns that the world is threatened by a corrupted Pokemon and that the guild holds a horrifying secret.
1. Prologue

_A/N: Ever since finishing Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Darkness, this story has been formulating in my mind, and recently it's been screaming to be let out, despite the massive amounts of homework I have. Regardless, the voices prevailed, and here is the prologue of my fanfic, PMD: Realms of Iniquity. It loosely follows the PMD format; I'm going to try to be original with this._

_I spent quite a lot of time editing, but if you find a mistake, please tell me. Reviews of any kind are greatly appreciated. Enjoy (f you can). ^^_

**Disclaimer: Grovyle, Lucario, Nidorino, Murkrow, and Honchkrow all belong to their respective creators. The game, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon, belongs to Nintendo, I think.**

* * *

He was still awake. But even in his blank, semi-conscious state, he knew he was going to die. And yet, his senses still worked, to some extent – there was a lingering metallic scent in his nose, and something in his mouth tasted like copper. Then there were voices, too…

"That Grovyle was surprisingly tough," said one in a dreamy voice that seemed to make him want to sleep.

"Urrgh," the Grovyle moaned in protest, attempting to rouse his unresponsive limbs. He was promptly smacked in the face by a fiery fist, and any energy he had left was gone.

"And now we need to… him and we'll… … … the world-"

His head felt like it was on fire. His ears were ringing and his mind was quickly shutting down. _'I failed'_, echoed in his dying thoughts, until he thought no more.

* * *

_Three days later..._

Not too far away, a lone Lucario sat on a log, staring at the flow of a nearby river. "Where is he?" he mused, breaking his stare and looking around uncertainly, "It is already past 'late afternoon'… Has something happened?"

With a sigh, he looked back down at the water. After another few silent minutes, he looked up again: "The sun is setting," he told himself, observing the golden sun that would soon disappear behind the tall trees of Loran Forest, "I have waited far too long…"

The Lucario got up slowly, almost reluctantly. Strangely, although it was getting dark, he did not want to go home. What home, anyway? He lived by himself in a neglected wooden house, and all he ever did was stare at Mismagius Guild and wonder what it would be like to be in an exploration team.

For it was his dream to explore, and that dream kept him alive. It filled the void in his life. Unfortunately, Mismagius Guild, the most successful exploration base around, demanded that exploration teams have two or more members. Although crushed, he never gave up. Countless times he tried to prove himself and ask for a partner, but for whatever reason, it never seemed to work out - he never found the right partner, one that would befriend him and be skilled at what he was not.

For a long time this bothered him, until finally, he met Nidorino. Adventure and exploration also captivated him, and they agreed to be friends, and perhaps form an exploration team.

However, there was Lucario, hanging around a decaying log deep in Loran Forest, with Nidorino nowhere in sight. They were supposed to meet here, so what went wrong?

The Lucario was about to turn around and walk away when something caught his eye. In the dim sunlight, he could see dozens of Murkrow and the occasional Honchkrow flying in circles in the distance.

_'What's going on over there, I wonder,_' he thought. Curiosity took the better of him, and he started to make his way to the populous flock of dark birds. He plunged into the river and swam across, becoming quite cold in the process. "_Why_ am I doing this?" he growled to himself, shivering as he climbed out of the water, "night is approaching, and I could easily get lost here…"

He was right. Soon after entering the densely vegetated forest, he lost orientation and could not figure out where he was going. A dead silence hung in the air, and twigs snapping or the leaves rustling often startled him. Finally, after what seemed like ages of walking blindfolded, the Lucario stepped out into a clearing.

With the last remaining sunlight acting as a spotlight, his attention was immediately drawn to the center of the field, where the remains of an old temple stood. "Wow!" he exclaimed, amazed by his discovery. He walked closer to the ruins, and realized that although the temple had long since lost its ceiling, some of the walls and columns were intact, obscuring the interior from view. Excitedly, the Lucario observed the walls and floor, and found that they were lined with various plants and had cracks in them that seemed to radiate a soothing, green glow from within.

However, a loud shriek grabbed his attention. He froze and looked up, and a feeling of dread overcame him. The Murkrow and Honchkrow were right above him, and that could only mean bad luck. He had heard countless fables and warnings that where there were Murkrow, something bad has happened - or will.

With a newly found sense of paranoia, he looked around warily and examined everything he could see for signs of danger. He walked cautiously into the temple, and gasped when he saw burns all over the walls. Running now, he kept going in a straight path. He almost tripped on a small crater in the ground, and noticed many cracks and dents in the walls, indicating that a fierce struggle had taken place.

"What happened here?" he breathed, stopping to scan the interior. Immediately, he felt nervous – there was a faint aura nearby. Cautiously, he made his way onward. An ominous hum seemed to echo through the halls, and the Lucario could almost hear his heart pounding. The sunlight gone, everything was dark, illuminated only by the uncanny green glow. That wasn't enough to see, so he powered up an Aura Sphere. The energy from his palm emitted a faded blue glow; enough for him to spot a motionless figure sprawled out on the floor. The Lucario froze, and then slowly aimed the Aura Sphere at it.

"I-It's a Pokémon," he blurted, and ran to it. "A Grovyle…," he exclaimed, "and it's badly injured!" True to his word, the Grovyle, much like the ruins' walls, was covered in burns, bruises, and scratches. The most serious wounds seemed to be a bite on its neck and a nasty third-degree burn on its shoulder. "I need to bring it back to Magnolia Village," the Lucario declared.

With that, he picked up the Grovyle and ran back home - all the while wondering who could have done this to him, and why.


	2. Awakening

"Wake up… Hey… Come on, get up," a quiet, slurred voice coaxed.

The Grovyle moaned and flickered his eyes open. His vision was hazy, but he managed to make out his surroundings. He was in a tiny room, the only furniture around being a small, battered table and a messy bed of straw that he was currently lying on. Then, he noticed that to his right, a Lucario stood nearby, watching him. He groaned again to show he was awake.

"Good… Try getting up, slowly," the Lucario suggested, looking a little impatient and indifferent, not matching his calming voice at all. The Grovyle attempted to move, but if felt like his limbs were weak as if they hadn't been used for a year. Slowly, he rolled over onto his belly, and then, at a snail's pace, managed to get into a kneeling position, although his arms were still trembling.

Timidly, the Lucario helped him get to his feet, rather roughly however. Leaning on the wall, panting, the Grovyle looked around in a clueless manner and wheezed, "Where am I?"

"Uh, you are in Magnolia Village," the Lucario replied bluntly, looking at the ground and barely audible.

"What? …Magnolia Village? What am I doing here?" the Grovyle asked, holding his head as if he had a headache. He then eyed the grotesque, sloppily bandaged burn on his shoulder and all the cuts and bruises on his body, and added, wincing, "Where'd I get all this?"

"I found you unconscious deep in Loran Forest, and I, uh, brought you back here… I do not know how you got that burn – do you not remember?"

"No," the Grovyle responded, staring into space, "I don't remember anything at all…"

"You must have been beaten badly then..."

After a moment of silence, the Grovyle looked back at the Lucario, who shyly avoided eye contact, "Who are you?"

"I am Aurealis," the Lucario answered, to which the Grovyle nodded in approval. "And you? Do you have a name?"

"I do. I'm… I'm…" the Grovyle paused, and appeared frustrated, "it's on the tip of my tongue! ...Gah, I can't remember it…!"

"What?" Aurealis exclaimed, appearing mildly disgruntled for the very first time, "You cannot even remember your own name?"

The Grovyle looked down sadly, deep in thought, "No…"

Another long, uncanny silence ensued. The Grovyle shifted on his legs, already getting tired from standing. At last, he couldn't stand it, and sheepishly asked, "Hey, do you have something to eat? I don't remember the last time I ate; I'm starving…"

"I am not surprised… You were unconscious for nearly four days, and-"

"Four days?" the Grovyle gasped, interrupting, "how could I be out that long?"

"As I said, you must have been beaten badly… But to answer your previous question, I do have a little food, if-"

At the mention of food, the Grovyle's belly growled loudly. Blushing mildly and rubbing the back of his head, he said, "I could eat anything, really."

"All right." Walking over to a small, weathered table, he picked up a Big Apple and an Oran Berry. The Grovyle was already fidgeting with anticipation, but couldn't move due to his ache. Noting this, Aurealis added, "Eat the Oran Berry first… It should make you feel a bt better."

Nodding, the Grovyle gratefully took the berry, and devoured it in an instant. The apple was quick to follow, and in a matter of seconds, he was done. Sighing contentedly, he remarked, "Thanks, I _do_ feel better…"

"Good… And are you still hungry?"

"Nah, not really."

Aurealis nodded and looked back at the floor. Another awkward silence consumed the air. There was nothing to discuss anymore, and thus, the Grovyle sighed and declared, "Well, I'd better get going… I need to find answers somewhere… But thanks for the hospitality, what was it – ah, Aurealis." With that, he shambled to the door, leaving Aurealis in silence. The door creaked open, and the Grovyle limped out, waving one last bye before plodding away. Aurealis stared after him, and mentally punished himself for being so unsocial again.

Sighing, he also walked outside. The Grovyle was still easily in sight; he was just approaching the village wall… Had he just left behind another opportunity for a friend? The Lucario looked down sullenly, and then in the direction of Mismagius Guild – a tall, proud building with the same color and shape as a Mismagius hat. He could stare at it and fantasize about exploring all day… Suddenly, a thought hit him like a rock.

"Nameless Grovyle! Wait!" Aurealis hollered, dashing towards the Grovyle, who stopped and turned around.

"What?" He yelled back, and waited for the Lucario to catch up with him.

Very soon, Aurealis caught up and almost crashed into him because of his momentum. "Where are you going to go?" It was a rhetorical question, so Aurealis continued rapidly, "You have nowhere to go, right?"

"Uh, yeah, I… guess so," the Grovyle replied, taken aback by Aurealis' abrupt surge of excitement.

"And you have nothing to do, right – because you lost your memory?"

"Yeah… What's your point?"

"Well, I was thinking," Aurealis offered, making direct eye contact with the Grovyle for the first time, "Could you form an exploration team with me?"

The Grovyle blinked. "A what?" he asked, confused.

"An exploration team!" Aurealis explained, speaking faster and more elatedly by the second, "We could explore unknown lands such as cryptic caves and labyrinthine jungles! We could discover ruins and temples and bring back amazing tre-"

"Whoa, slow down there!" the Grovyle interrupted, eyes wide from Aurealis' overflowing determination and the unexpected request, "that's assuming I accept, but… I just met you!"

Aurealis' ears and tail drooped, and he lowered his head in disappointment. "Well, that is true," he admitted. However, his grit quickly returned, "But then, I am the only one you know now! You said it yourself, you have nowhere to go and you do not know what to do. And perhaps, by exploring, you could find some answers and restore your memory! What is the harm in accepting?"

The Grovyle opened his mouth to argue, but he could not think of an answer. Finally, he let out a sigh, and conceded, "Fine, I suppose I could make a team with you." Before Aurealis could react, he added, "Under one condition!"

"Anything!" Aurealis complied, impatient to visit Mismagius Guild at last.

"Stop talking so formally," the Grovyle chuckled, "It's really unnatural."

"I can live with that," Aurealis replied, smiling. Finally, his dream was unfolding! "Now that you agree, we need to go to Mismagius Guild to register our team."

"Mismagius Guild?"

"Yeah. It's probably the best exploration base around. All we need to do is register and start training!"

"Wait, how am I supposed to be in a team when I don't even have a name?"

"Hmm, good point… We need to think of a name for you… For now, I'll just call you Grovyle. How's that?"

"It'll work, I guess," Grovyle nodded.

"Good," Aurealis affirmed, "Now let's go the guild!"

Grovyle didn't seem to share Aurealis' enthusiasm. "Is it far?" he moaned, still somewhat weary.

"No, not at all. You can see it over there," the Lucario said, pointing at the top of Mismagius Guild, the rest hidden by numerous magnolia trees. Grovyle nodded, and, without any more discussion, the two walked up the hill towards Mismagius Guild.

"Visitors, visitors, visitors!" shouted Sentret, who was standing upright on its tail and facing the approaching Lucario and Grovyle, "A Lucario and Grovyle, a Lucario and Grovyle, a Lucario and Grovyle!"

"You'd think saying it once is enough," Grovyle muttered as he and Aurealis advanced toward Mismagius Guild. The building was a dark purple color, and was shaped like the pointy hat of a Mismagius. The grated door almost looked like a mouth, and there were blazing torches for the eyes.

"It's kind of small, don't you think?" Grovyle noted, while the Sentret looked them both over and then ran inside.

"I'm sure there's more to it than this," Aurealis explained, fidgeting in excitement.

"You're probably right, there's-" Grovyle stopped himself as he heard muffled voices from inside the Guild:

"What? A Grovyle?" one growled, seeming aggressive.

"Yes, yes, yes. And a Lucario."

"Let me see," the former voice snapped, and promptly a large, rough looking Manectric stepped out. He stopped and examined Lucario first, and then Grovyle. When he did so, his face seemed to turn to one of pure shock and horror. "W-Who are you? What do you want?" he asked, taking a few steps backwards.

Grovyle and Aurealis looked at each other in confusion, until Aurealis decided to answer, "I'm Aurealis, and this is Grovyle… We wish to form an exploration team."

The Manectric paused for a moment, and appeared to think of what to say very carefully. "Aurealis and… Grovyle? Doesn't he have a name…?"

"He lost his memory," Aurealis explained, "and so he doesn't remember anything, including his name. That's why he's called Grovyle."

"I see," the Manectric mused, and abruptly calmed down, with his expression back to the normal growl. "So you want to form an exploration team? Wait here," he ordered, and went back into the guild.

"What's up with him?" Grovyle wondered.

"I don't know," Aurealis responded, "I guess he's just never seen a Grovyle before… That wouldn't be surprising since they're extremely rare."

"And did you see those scars? There were a lot of them, and many look worse than mine do. I guess he's been in a lot of fights."

"Well, there have been reports of violent Pokémon appearing recently…"

"Really? Why?"

"Nobody knows…"

"Interesting."

With that, the two stopped conversing and waited for the Manectric return. Five minutes passed, and then ten. Grovyle started to get impatient, but Aurealis didn't seem to care; he appeared to pass the time by staring at the entrance, deep in thought.

Finally, the Manectric returned, and announced in his usual, gruff voice, "Guildmaster Mismagius is ready to see you."

"It's about time," Grovyle mumbled to himself, shifting on his tired legs. The Manectric didn't hear, and turned around, indicating for them to follow. The three walked into the small, tent-like guild.

"Look, Grovyle," Aurealis whispered, pointing straight ahead, "stairs! That means this place goes underground!"

"Underground? How can you see anything down there?"

"You'll see," the Manectric growled, overhearing their conversation.

The three walked down the stairs, and entered a spacious, bustling chamber. "Wow, look at that," Aurealis marveled, eyes shining almost as brightly as the numerous torches on the wall. Illuminated by the fire and a few specialized Luminous Orbs, the Lucario and Grovyle saw dozens of Pokémon chatting, laughing, and milling about. The lot of them was standing around one massive billboard, which was plastered with all kinds of posters, images, and letters. On a few, pictures of Pokémon were shown, while on others, there was dominantly text. Excitement and competition filled the atmosphere, and both Grovyle and Aurealis could easily feel it.

The two were in such a trance that they almost forgot about the Manectric, who hadn't stopped and kept walking towards the opposite end of the room. "Hey, Aurealis, let's go," Grovyle hissed, jabbing Aurealis, who was still in a daze.

"Right," the Lucario responded, and the two ran to catch up with the Manectric. They made their way through the residents and caught up to him just as he halted at an opened, impressive door.

"This is the Guildmaster's room," the Manectric barked, glaring at Aurealis and Grovyle and making them jittery. "You must be courteous to the Guildmaster at all times. If not…" Electricity shortly crackled around the Manectric as he let the sentence hang.

Aurealis and Grovyle glanced at each other nervously and followed him into the room. Once they entered, the door was slammed shut by an invisible force, and the two couldn't help but wonder whether the Guildmaster was also as daunting and short-tempered as the Manectric.

As the two looked around, they noticed a bed, carpet, and a door, but no Mismagius. "Uh," Aurealis pointed out, "the Guildmaster isn't here…"

As if on cue, a loud, sweet "Hello!" suddenly reverberated through the walls. Normally, both Grovyle and Aurealis would have jumped back in surprise, but the voice was too soothing for that and even started to make them feel calm, bordering on sleepy. Soon, a Mismagius appeared out of thin air, and this time, they jumped back in surprise. Like the Manectric, Mismagius had several scars, some of them quite serious. She didn't seem to be affected by them, however, and was as cheerful as ever.

"Don't be frightened," Mismagius sang, spinning around in the air merrily, "I am Mismagius, the guildmaster of Mismagius Guild! And this is my trusted friend and right hand, Manectric." She pointed at him and added, "I apologize for his horrible attitude in advance. I'm afraid he is always this way…"

Grovyle was too hypnotized by her voice to answer, so Aurealis did: "Hello, I'm Aurealis and this is Grovyle. We wish to form an exploration team."

"I heard," Mismagius noted, beaming, "And you're welcome to do so! The only thing you have to do is pass a small test and you're in!"

"A test? What kind of test?"

"It's very simple," she explained, "To the left of Magnolia Village, as you might already know, there is a place called the Flat Fields. Your task is to go to the Flat Fields, find a Blue Gem, and bring it back."

"A Blue Gem?"

"There is a cave at the edge of Flat Fields, and it's filled with beautiful Blue Gems! Don't worry, there are always some there."

"I understand," Aurealis replied, nodding, and then proceeded to shake Grovyle out of his daydream, "Grovyle, we have a test to pass."

Grovyle shook his head and moaned, "Huh? What? I'm really sleepy..."

"That can wait, this shouldn't take long."

Mismagius frowned. "Don't underestimate your task," she warned, "Although the Flat Plains may be small, you don't have a map, or anything to store your items in."

"That's the challenge, isn't it?" Aurealis riposted confidently, "Now, Grovyle, let's go."

"Good luck," Mismagius cheered, as Aurealis and the protesting Grovyle left the room, "you two might need it."


	3. The Big Test

After leaving Mismagius' chamber, Grovyle and Aurealis made their way through the now subsiding crowd of residents. "So what are we doing?" asked Grovyle, jogging to keep up with the impatient Lucario, "I didn't hear a thing; that voice made my mind float."

Aurealis didn't answer until they were at the foot of the stairs. "We have to bring back a Blue Gem from the Flat Fields," he explained, walking up the stairs. Grovyle nodded and followed, and soon the two stepped out of the guild.

As the two started walking, Grovyle inquired, "So where are the Flat Fields?"

Without stopping or turning to look at him, Aurealis replied, "Right to the left of Magnolia Village."

Grovyle nodded in response, and the two set out to the village wall. On the way, they saw numerous stands and a few tents where the locals lived. Strangely, beside the owners of the markets, there were almost no Pokémon out on the streets. Aurealis didn't quite care about his surroundings, but Grovyle did.

"Hey, Aurealis," Grovyle called, jabbing the unresponsive Lucario, "we just passed a market that sells berries. I'm hungry again…" Much to Grovyle's dismay, however, he may as well have been addressing a rock - Aurealis ignored him and simply kept walking. Defeated, Grovyle sighed and sullenly followed his partner.

After a few seconds, Aurealis whispered, "I don't have any Poké, Grovyle. That's one minor reason why I wanted to join the guild."

"Huh? Poké? What's that?"

"It's what we use to pay for things…"

"Oh," Grovyle stated, looking away, "sorry…"

"Never mind that," the Lucario replied, stopping as they approached the village wall, "Let's go get that Blue Gem!"

"All right!"

Two shadowy figures, both with blood red eyes, stood in the shadows, watching the Lucario and Grovyle pass the village barrier.

"You know what to do," growled a rough, male voice.

The second only smirked and nodded. Moments later, the figure dashed off.

_Much, __**much**__ later..._

"Couldn't this have waited until tomorrow?" grumbled Grovyle, tired, grouchy, and barely able to keep up with Aurealis' unwaveringly fast pace. Not getting an answer, he added, "You know, if we're going to be an exploration team, you're going to have to start considering your teammates…"

"Just walk faster and we'll be done sooner," Aurealis muttered, seemingly accelerating and apparently uncaring about what Grovyle was saying.

"I heard that," Grovyle growled, offended, and angrily forced himself to march onward. The two had already traveled far into the Flat Fields, and, since leaving Mismagius Guild, which was a couple of hours ago, had not seen a single Pokémon or item. True to their name, the Flat Fields really were flat, and although they could see all the way to the horizon, there seemed to be no cave in sight. "Look, Aurealis, sorry to burst your bubble, but as you can see, there is no cave anywhere for miles. And we've walked for so darn long…"

Aurealis did not respond, but he knew Grovyle was right – they had eagerly left Mismagius Guild hours ago, and it was true that they weren't getting anywhere.

"And look," Grovyle added, pointing at the sky, "the sun's already setting. So hopefully you remember the way back."

At this, Aurealis froze, and his mind turned blank. He desperately tried to recall their path, but could not succeed – in order to explore as much as possible, they turned in numerous places, and because of that, they were now hopelessly disoriented.

"Finally you stopped walking," Grovyle huffed, but then shivered in realization; "…We're lost, aren't we?"

Aurealis' only response was to look down in dismay. Not only were they failing their task, now they didn't know how to get back to civilization. His childhood dream suddenly seemed to be vanishing before his eyes.

"Oh, great!" Grovyle exclaimed, clearly irritated about the situation, "I knew it was a bad idea forming an exploration team with you!" With that, he started pacing around, fuming.

Aurealis sighed, his tail and ears sagging. They were in a very bad situation, and he knew it was his fault. But there was no point in stopping, he knew, and his head perked up again with the return of his fiery determination. "Come on Grovyle," he declared, "if there's no way back, let's go forward."

"Are you serious? If we keep going, we'll never get back to the guild!"

Aurealis didn't wait for Grovyle's retort, and continued walking ahead.

The Grovyle didn't follow him, however. Instead, he yelled, "Fine! Apparently we're not getting along, so let's just split up!"

The Lucario never stopped for an instant. "I take that as a yes," Grovyle growled, and started to trudge the other way.

_'He gives up too easily,_' thought Aurealis he headed away from his partner. _'I need to reach that cave, no matter what…! He doesn't know how important this is to me.'_

The Lucario kept walking in a straight line. His morale had suffered quite a severe blow, but he was unwilling to give up his dream. It was the only thing that animated his life, and he wasn't about to let that disappear just because his partner had sore feet.

After another twenty minutes or so, Aurealis finally saw the end of the Flat Fields, marked by a tall cliff. His heart sank. There was no cave after all, and now they would surely fail the test. That is, if they even got back to the guild. The Flat Fields were so massive it would take numerous more long hours to get back to the guild even if they knew which way to go.

Then, out of the blue, Aurealis suddenly remembered something guildmaster Mismagius had said:

_"There is a cave at the edge of Flat Fields, and it's filled with beautiful blue gems!"_

If there was a time Aurealis felt stupid, this was it. He and Grovyle had been wasting time exploring the inside of the Flat Fields when the cave was at the edge!

With a newly found determination, he dashed towards the cliff. The daylight was waning - there was no time to lose.

_Meanwhile…_

The Grovyle stomped, still aggravated. _'I wish Aurealis wasn't so selfish,'_ he grumbled to himself, _'he just keeps plowing ahead regardless of anyone and anything!'_

Sighing, he sat down to rest and tried to calm down. He stared idly at the sky, watching the occasional cloud float by. His eyes began to close, and he started drifting away, much like the clouds… He shook the sleep away and scowled, _'I'm supposed to be looking for that cave, not taking a nap!'_

He got up abruptly and looked around. _'But where do I go?'_ he asked himself, looking around in all directions. Expanses of wide, open fields reached as far as the eye could see. But then, when he strained his eyes, he could see that far to the right, there were trees_. 'It could be a forest,'_ he mused, _'I guess that answers the question… It's better than these endless fields anyway.'_

Thus, the Grovyle set out in the direction of the forest. As he did so, thunderclouds began to roll in, and the surroundings became dimmer and darker. This was not a good sign. Now that his anger towards his partner was gone, Grovyle regretted separating from him, especially given that dusk was falling and his own condition was deteriorating. If they didn't find each other soon, there was a chance they wouldn't at all.

For a while, he thought of what to do. Finally, he decided to move forward. After all, the Lucario's rash and undefeatable personality would have brought him to the edge of the fields, and so perhaps Grovyle could meet him there. But with that rest Grovyle had taken, he was far behind.

With his destination now set in mind, he took off as fast as his legs would carry him towards the forest in the distance.

The cliff loomed over Aurealis like a giant tsunami about to crash down on him. The surface was rough and jagged, and many cracks and openings covered it. This ignited even more hope in him, and he thoroughly inspected each one. He found no Blue Gems, but this didn't discourage him in the slightest.

What did obstruct his search was the darkness. Barely any light reached into the cracks, so he had to illuminate them with an Aura Sphere. Using the dim light from the energy collected on his palm, he spotted a fissure that appeared promising. He peered inside, shining the Aura Sphere, which prompted several Zubat to fly out into his face. At least they were too frightened to be a nuisance.

With the residents out of the way, Aurealis felt his way through the dark, the light from his attack not enough to enable proper vision. Every step he took made him excited, and the fact he hadn't reached a dead end yet was downright elating.

Suddenly, his paw couldn't feel the cave wall anymore. A surge of excitement rushed through him – he was finally getting somewhere! Impatiently, he fired up the strongest Aura Sphere he could muster.

A smile tugged at his cheek. With the blue light radiating from the orb, he could tell he had found what he was looking for. The walls were covered with sparkling Blue Gems, each one more beautiful than the last. Almost mesmerized, the Lucario stepped forward, gazing at all the jewels. He could barely believe he was a few steps away from making his dream come true.

Then, however, a strange feeling snapped him back to reality. The atmosphere had changed somehow, he could feel it – a malevolent presence. Anxious, he yanked a Blue Gem of the wall and sped out of the crevice.

Grovyle was finally getting closer to the forest, but he wasn't sure if that would do him any good. By then, the clouds already obscured the fading sunlight, so it would be even darker amongst the trees. But he had no choice – he wasn't about to hang around in the middle of nowhere just because he was afraid of the dark.

As he entered the forest and was plunged into the dark, he still couldn't help feeling that it was not a good idea.

Thunder rumbled in the far distance as Grovyle, almost as if blindfolded, made his way through the forest. It was nearly pitch black inside, and he felt a very eerie sense of being watched. "Damn, where is that Lucario when you need him," Grovyle muttered as he looked around warily. The odd feeling seemed to intensify, and it felt as if the darkness itself was going to attack him. The silence of the forest was unnerving, and every time he took a step, it sounded like the stomp of a Rhydon.

At last, he couldn't handle his fear and climbed up a tree, panting as his panic injected adrenalin into his veins. His back to the tree, his eyes darted from one direction to the next, scanning the blackness in front of him for any signs of movement. Nothing. Maybe he was just being paranoid.

Suddenly, a deep growl resonated from somewhere nearby. His heart skipping a beat, he wheeled around. Immediately, he gasped and stepped back in horror. Two blood red irises stared at him, glaring daggers through his mind. In terror, he tried to run, but his feet were sluggish and unresponsive. The enemy's growl turned into a malicious chuckle, sending shivers down his spine.

The shadow stepped forward, revealing the outlines of a grinning Mightyena. Without warning, it shot forward and rammed into Grovyle with a headbutt attack. He let out a cry as he was knocked off the branch and hit the ground hard. Moaning, he struggled to his feet, and braced himself for the next impact.

It was then, with pure terror, he realized he didn't know how to defend himself. He had forgotten everything. The Mightyena seemed to know this and laughed manically. It jumped down and began to circle its prey.

Grovyle shrank back and tried to edge away slowly, knowing his only chance was to run. But when he turned around, he found himself in front of another pair of bloodshot eyes. "Th-There's more than one?" he whimpered, backing away further. He didn't have a chance to say anything else as the Mightyena behind him lunged for him. Grovyle saw it coming from the corner of his eye and instinctively dove left, the canine swiping its claws at where he had just been.

Grovyle tried to run again but was blocked by a third Mightyena. It snarled and ran towards him to Tackle, but the Grovyle jumped back, barely avoiding the hit. The wolf eyed him with bloodlust and stalked back into the shadows, disappearing out of sight.

The grass type backed against a tree, panting. He strained his eyes to see but his attackers had all vanished in the dark. _'Something's not right! Where'd they go?'_

"Right here…"

He wheeled around to the origin of the voice, only to catch a glimpse of a dark purple mass of electricity before it exploded and threw him across the forest floor. He skid to a stop and lay there limply. Dazed and in pain, he moaned as his consciousness began to recede. He opened his eyes just enough to see a fourth Mightyena glaring down at him spitefully.

_'It's an ambush… I'm dead now…'_

But, as the four Mightyena circled him and walked closer, a faint streak of hope arose in his mind. And with his last remaining strength, he yelled out into the air,

"AUREALIS!"


	4. Riding Out the Storm

"Aurealis!"

The cry reverberated through the night. The sound, however, faded just as quickly as Grovyle's hopes.

"You think he will help you?" the Mightyena in front of him taunted, staring down at the battered Grovyle mockingly. Grovyle was too weak and scared to answer. To this, the Mightyena chuckled evilly and continued, "Nobody can help you now."

The Grovyle could only growl in response. Inside, the fear of death began to eat away at his mind. Had he awakened today with no memory just so he could die again?

The four Mightyena grinned and stepped towards him menacingly. At that point, Grovyle knew all he could do was try to delay his death. "Why are you hunting me?" he rasped, taking him a lot of strain to talk legibly.

The Mightyena didn't respond. Instead, they began to walk around him in a tightening circle, making him extremely uncomfortable as he was unable to see them all. Then, a voice behind him growled, "I was sent to fulfill a job… And I will now do so."

Grovyle's eyes widened in terror, and he rolled around to see the Mightyena that spoke about to bite at his neck. Paralyzed in fright, he helplessly watched as the Mightyena roared and barked, "Stay still, I'll make it quick!"

The canine dived forward, fangs wide open. Grovyle screamed as its teeth dug into his neck, drawing blood. The pain coursed though his body, and everything seemed to darken and pulsate with a hazy red color, until…

"Get off him!" a deep voice roared. Promptly, a blue and gray blur slammed into the Mightyena, catching it by surprise and causing to fly into a tree.

"Au-Aurealis?" Grovyle wheezed, straining to sit up and see none other than his partner. Upon doing so, he went lightheaded and fell back onto the ground.

"Stay down, Grovyle," the Lucario ordered, his eyes glued on the Mightyena.

There was no more time to talk. The Mightyena that had been slammed rose to its feet and growled savagely. It turned to Aurealis and snarled at him, exposing its long, bloodied teeth.

With that, three Mightyena lunged for him. The Lucario leapt up, leaving the Mightyena to crash into themselves. He wasted no time and fired an Aura Sphere at one, his type advantage easily knocking it out cold. The other two Mightyena briefly glanced at their fallen comrade, then howled. Strangely, they made no move. Instead, they started grinning devilishly. Cautiously, Aurealis looked around, and scanned the area for auras. Too late, he realized that there were supposed to be _four_ Mightyena, not three.

Suddenly, he was tackled to the ground with a Take Down. He grunted and rolled over to get up, but didn't get the chance. All the remaining Mightyena lunged at him simultaneously and slashed and bit ruthlessly. The Lucario roared as he was almost literally being torn apart.  
Outraged, he used close combat and sent a flurry of punches in all directions. The Mightyena howled in pain, and two fell to the ground, fainted.

Panting, the Lucario stood up shakily. His fur was stained red in many places, scars everywhere. He glared at the last standing Mightyena, clearly angry. The Mightyena glared back and growled, until finally it lowered its head and retreated into the darkness.

Aurealis sighed and almost toppled over. He was faring worse than he thought. Despite this, he determinedly told himself to ignore the pain. Slowly, he limped to Grovyle, who was unconscious. The Lucario checked his partner's condition but found no new major injuries apart from the bite on his neck.

_'Why had he fainted so easily if this is his only injury?'_ Aurealis pondered, the solution arriving a moment later, _'…Is it because I forced him on too much?'_ A feeling of guilt surfaced and lingered. Without another word, he picked up the Grovyle [with some difficulty] and started walking.

_KER-RASH!_

Grovyle's eyes shot open, but all he saw was darkness, illuminated only by an extremely faint blue glow. He sat up slowly, feeling stiff and sore, especially in the legs. It was nothing compared to waking up in Aurealis' home, though.

'…_Where am I?_'

With visibility reduced to a minimum, he listened instead. He could hear loud and constant pattering from nearby, and the occasional deep rumble. Suddenly, there was a bright flash, and a deafening crack ensued. Grovyle flinched, startled, and then realized it was only an intense thunderstorm.

'_I must be in a cave, then…' _He let out a sigh of relief. The moment he did so, something shuffled nearby.

Grovyle froze. "Aurealis?" he asked, his voice echoing.

"You're awake…" a deep but slightly raspy voice stated, a voice Grovyle instantly recognized as Aurealis'. "Are you all right?"

Grovyle blinked. Was Aurealis… concerned? "I've been better, but… yeah, I guess I am."

The Lucario said nothing.

"Aurealis, what happened back there? How'd you get there so fast?"

"I felt an evil presence, so I decided to investigate, just in case."

"Well… thanks for saving me. I would've been dog food by now…"

_KER-RASH!_

Then silence. The grass type, taking his partner's silence as a sign he was still mad, couldn't help but feel guilty. He sighed and took in a deep breath. "Look, Aurealis, I'm sorry for being such an idiot; holding you back and forcing you to rescue me. You might've completed the mission already if it weren't for me… I'm sorry."

The Lucario didn't answer for a while, only making the gecko feel even worse. "No need to apologize," the reply finally came, "I should be blamed, too… I was so bent on reaching my goal that I thought about no one but myself. _I'm_ sorry for being so stubborn and selfish. It's just that… I've never quite had someone to care for; being an official explorer was the only thing that mattered to me…"

"…Gosh, I… didn't know it meant that much to you… I've pretty much ruined your chances, haven't I…"

"No, you haven't. Wait for the next lightning strike and you'll see."

Curious as to what this was supposed to mean, Grovyle sat up and waited. It only took a few seconds. A bright flash illuminated the cavern, briefly revealing to him the Blue Gems that lined the walls.

_KER-RASH!_

He smiled. "So you've found the cave. I'm relieved. That means we can go when the storm clears, right?"

"Yes…"

"Good… I just can't wait to get back and get a proper sleep…" Having said that, he lied back down on the cold and jagged ground. Yep, there was no way he was falling asleep here; not with the storm raging outside, anyway. Confirming this, he sat back up and looked around. "Aurealis, _where_ are you, exactly?

"Well… providing that you haven't moved since I brought you here… I should be directly to your right."

The grass type began to grope around to the right, but then stopped as he processed his partner's words. The Lucario sounded inexplicably different now. Grovyle looked to the right and waited impatiently for the next lightning strike.

Finally, a bright light flashed through the cave, giving him enough time to see his partner.

_KER-RASH!_

"Oh, God! Aurealis!" Grovyle exclaimed, grimacing and turning away, "You didn't tell me you were injured this badly! We need to get back to the guild right now!"

"You said it yourself, we'll go when this storm ends. Besides… I'm fine. Don't worry about me."

"Don't worry? You could _bleed_ to death!"

To that, Aurealis didn't respond. Unknown to Grovyle, he actually felt slightly lightheaded and sick. But it was his nature not to show any weakness.

"As soon as this storm clears, we're going," Grovyle declared, noting the Lucario's pause. With that, the Grovyle lied back down. He was determined to stay awake but every passing minute made him only sleepier. The storm showed no signs of diminishing; in fact, it only seemed to escalate.

Finally, after what felt like an hour, boredom and his slight weariness began to get the better of him. In spite of the natural disruptions, he closed his eyes, and before he knew it, he was drifting away...

"Grovyle, wake up… Wake up! Grovyle. Please…"

"Oh, fine!" grumbled the Grovyle as he stood up abruptly. He turned to look at his partner, and his expression immediately softened to one of concern.

"You said that once the storm was over, we'd go," the Lucario rasped, looking away to avoid eye contact. Although he was evidently trying to hide it, he appeared to be in great pain.

Grovyle stared at him, and then glanced outside. The storm was over, but it was still dark and cold. The air was damp and smelled of ozone. It was obvious that the storm had ended only moments ago and that Aurealis was anxious to leave.

Grovyle turned back to him and sighed, "All right, let's go."

Seeming relieved, Aurealis walked lamely to the entrance, with Grovyle right behind. As the Lucario picked up a Blue Gem that was lying there, Grovyle noticed that there was a lack of confidence and certainty in his partner's step. He looked clumsy and dizzy.

"Aurealis, are you okay?" Grovyle asked, eying his partner worriedly.

"I'm fine…"

"Are you sure?"

"I'm fine," Aurealis repeated, attempting to be loud and unwavering. Grovyle wasn't fooled.

"We should get going… The sooner we get back the better."

With that, the two stepped out and started walking.

_It was long and tedious hike. The two had barely any idea of where to go, and every hour that passed by, Aurealis' condition seemed to deteriorate faster and faster. It was only at early sunset that they finally saw the village wall. By then, the two were starving, and the Lucario looked as though he'd been to hell and back. The last few hundred steps were the worst, but the guild was finally in sight…_

"The Lucario and Grovyle, the Lucario and Grovyle, the Lucario and Grovyle! They're back, they're back, they're-" Sentry Sentret suddenly stopped cold. He dashed into the guild and hollered, "Oh my goodness! Get the medics, get the medics, get the medics!"

"Look, Aurealis… We made it," Grovyle announced weakly, collapsing right in front of the grated entrance. For the life in him, he could not take another step.

Aurealis, however, was faring worse. Clasping the Blue Gem tightly in both paws, he had already collapsed a while ago, and had to rely on his partner to drag him, which had exhausted them both. Coughing dryly, the Lucario sprawled out on the ground. "Yeah, we did…" he rasped, closing his eyes and managing to smile despite the circumstances.

"There they are!" a voice from inside the guild declared. A moment later, a dozen or so Pokémon ran out, followed by Mismagius, Manectric, and three Bellossom. Everybody gasped and some look away in disgust.

"Oh _my_!" exclaimed Mismagius, floating over to the now unconscious duo, "What on _earth_ happened to them? Quickly, two volunteers to carry them down to the healing room!"

"Right!" a Flygon from the crowd affirmed, and hurriedly flew to Aurealis and picked him up from the ground. A Zangoose stepped up and picked up Grovyle. The two rushed back into the guild and down the stairs, followed by Mismagius and the rest of the crowd.

Once the Flygon and Zangoose were inside the main hall, they turned left. At that point, only Manectric and the three Bellossom followed them; Mismagius had stopped and halted the group.

"They need to be alone now," the Guildmaster ordered, "Please carry on with any normal duties; the two will be taken care of."

With that, Mismagius flew through the wall and into the healing room, slightly startling the Bellossom, and asked, "What are their injuries? Is it… serious?"

The three Bellossom took a moment to scan the unconscious duo. "Well," the tallest Bellossom explained, "both of them haven't eaten anything for about a day and a half. The Grovyle doesn't seem to have any major external injuries, but he's apparently exhausted. Though he'll be sore for a while, he should be fine when he wakes up.

"The Lucario is in worse condition… In addition to having the same ailments as the Grovyle, he has, as you can see, many deep scratches. Some of them look infected, and he's undoubtedly lost a lot of blood."

"Will he be awright?" asked the Zangoose, who had until then stayed there and, along with the Flygon, kept quiet.

"Yes, I should think so… He'll be in some pain for a few days though," the Bellossom replied.

Suddenly, Manectric let out a growl, puzzling everyone except for Mismagius, who briefly appeared to be angry.

"Manectric!" she scolded, looking at the canine sternly.

"Is there a problem?" the shortest Bellossom inquired, gazing at the Manectric, apparently confused.

Manectric paused for a brief moment. "I wonder who could have done this to them," he then barked, staring intently at Aurealis' scars, "Why, when I get my claws on them-"

"Oh, please," Mismagius sighed, "save your attitude for later, Manectric. Right now, we should leave the Bellossom to the healing. I'll postpone dinner for a little bit."

"Meanwhile," she continued, turning to the Zangoose and Flygon, "Zero and Dexter, thank you for volunteering. You can carry on with your regular routine now."

"Yes, Guildmaster," the Flygon and Zangoose affirmed simultaneously as they turned and left the room. Mismagius was about to leave as well when she noticed the Blue Gem Aurealis was holding.

"Oh, Manectric! Look!" she exclaimed, pointing at the gem and appearing shocked, "A Blue Gem! They- They found one! That means that they… passed!"

"They passed?" repeated Manectric, sharing Mismagius' expression.

"Yes! …Oh, this is great news! As soon as they awaken, we must fill in their application form and welcome them to the guild!"

With that, Mismagius floated out the room, singing merrily. Manectric gave Aurealis a last glance, and then followed her.

Grovyle opened his eyes. This was the third time he had awoken in 24 hours, but this was by far the most comfortable. Sitting up on the straw bed, he noticed he was back in the guild and in what must be the infirmary. To his right was a shelf laden with berries, herbs, and various elixirs, some in the strangest colors. In front of him was the doorway leading to the main hall, where he could see several Pokémon milling about. However, it was lacking the rowdiness and atmosphere from before. Sighing, Grovyle turned to his left. He saw Aurealis lying on a bed identical to his, and his eyes widened. But before the Grovyle got the chance to do or say anything, a small Pokémon was suddenly in his face.

"So you're up!" a Bellossom chirped, waving its arms and doing a quick 360° turn on the spot. She then continued rapidly, almost incoherently, "We're done healing you, so once you eat this Oran Berry, you're free to go!" With that, the Bellossom handed him a soft, blue berry.

Grovyle accepted it and nodded in gratitude. He then looked worriedly at Aurealis, who was still asleep. "Will he be okay?"

"Yes, yes. We've disinfected and bandaged all of his cuts and restored some of his energy with a Sitrus Berry. All he needs now is rest," the Bellossom assured.

"Huh, I don't think Aurealis will like that," Grovyle mused to himself.

"What was that?"

"Ah, nothing."

"…Well, if that's the case, I suggest you go to the Guildmaster's room. I reckon she's saved a bit from dinner for you and your friend."

Grovyle smiled and shook his head. "Nah, I'll pass… I want to stay here until he wakes up."

"All right then… If you need anything, just ring the bell near the door, over there," the Bellossom instructed. With that, she waved and skipped out the room.

Grovyle sat still for a few moments. Then, he moved to the other side of Aurealis' temporary bed, leaned against the wall, and waited.

_Later…_

A silent moan echoed in the quiet room. Grovyle shifted, the sound immediately yanking him away from his thoughts. His eyes focused Aurealis, who stirred and opened his eyes. The Lucario, unaware of Grovyle's presence, sat up and looked around. He then noticed the Blue Gem next to his paw and clutched it tightly, as if it could disappear at any moment and shatter his dreams.

"Glad to see you're awake," Grovyle finally greeted, stifling a yawn.

"Grovyle?"

"Who else."

Aurealis turned to face his partner and smiled, holding up the Blue Gem. "It's finally over, isn't it? We passed… I'm so happy…"

Grovyle smiled back. It was a wonderful thing that both of them managed to get through that rough test, and had managed to fulfill, or at least get closer to, Aurealis' dreams. And now, just maybe, Grovyle could get his first friend.

Aurealis used Grovyle's silence as time to look himself. Appearing vexed, he began taking off his bandages.

"I don't think you're supposed to be doing that," Grovyle pointed out.

"I don't like bandages, they get in the way," the Lucario replied bluntly, continuing in what he was doing.

"If you say so… At least eat this," Grovyle suggested, offering him an Oran Berry, "You were supposed to get an Oran Berry, but the healers left, so I'll give you mine. You need it more anyway."

The Lucario stared at the berry, and then at Grovyle. "I'm surprised, I thought you eat whenever you get the chance."

Grovyle chuckled. It was probably Aurealis' very first try at humor. "Just eat it before I change my mind."

Aurealis smirked and ate the berry. "Thanks," he said, "What now?"

"That depends on how you feel. And since, as always, you're probably feeling 'fine', we should be going to Mismagius' chamber and show her the Blue Gem."

"I agree with that," Aurealis approved, grabbing the Blue Gem and rising slowly to his feet.

"Are you sure you're up to it?"

"I'm fine."

"I thought so. Well, let's go then."

The two tread slowly out the room, making sure not to strain themselves. They arrived into the main hall, which was now barren, the only moving things being the shadows cast by flickering torches. With everyone gone, the hall almost seemed eerie. They ignored this however and made their way straight to the door leading to Mismagius' chamber. 

There were infuriated yells coming from inside, but neither Grovyle nor Aurealis wished to eavesdrop, so they knocked on the door, and the voices abruptly stopped.

"You may enter!" a voice barked. It was obviously Manectric's.

Aurealis waited a few seconds before opening the door. He walked in, followed by Grovyle, who closed the door behind him.

"Oh! Aurealis and Grovyle! It's nice to see you with us!" Mismagius sang, the hostile air in the room evaporating instantly.

"Hello," Aurealis responded, "I hope we're not interrupting."

"No, not at all! In fact, we were expecting you to come! Please, come closer!" Once the duo complied, she continued, "Firstly, I must apologize for the trouble you experienced during your test. For that is where you got those scars, is it not?"

"Yeah, you're right," Grovyle answered, "No need to apologize though. It happened as a result of several, um, disagreements and misunderstandings…"

Aurealis decided to skip to the important part. Proudly holding up the Blue Gem, he declared, "Regardless, we managed to bring back a Blue Gem!"

"Ohhh, it's beautiful!" Mismagius exclaimed, taking the gem and inspecting it closely with shining eyes, "This must be acknowledged! You've certainly passed!"

Grovyle and Aurealis turned to each other and grinned. "I can't believe it," the Lucario whispered, "I've been waiting for this my entire life…!"

"And it's finally paid off," Grovyle added, giving his partner a friendly smack on the shoulder.

"I hate to cut in," Manectric suddenly growled, "but before you celebrate, you might as well fill in the Exploration Team Application Form."

"The what?" the two asked concurrently.

"The ETAF!" Mismagius replied, picking up where Manectric left off, "All you have to do is choose a name for your exploration team and sign your own names. We'll send the form to the Exploration Federation. If they accept it, you'll be an official exploration team!"

"Really?" Aurealis breathed, noticeably excited, "Let's sign it then!"

"Sure thing!" the ghost type chirped, handing the Lucario a surprisingly large paper with most of it dedicated to an immense wall of text written in such small font they could barely read it.

Grovyle and Aurealis stared at the paper, dumbfounded. "Do we have to read all that?" Grovyle finally demanded, looking back between Mismagius and the text.

"Oh no, certainly not! The text only describes all your rights, responsibilities, and so on. It would only give you a headache to read all of it."

"All right," Aurealis announced, skipping the text, "What should our team's name be?"

"Huh," Grovyle grumbled, "That's a tough one… Maybe we could try combining our names or something…"

"Our names? No, you don't even have a true name yet. Although, the combining idea isn't a bad one… Perhaps we could try combining one of our attacks."

"But I don't know any. I forgot all of them."

"Oh, right… Well, for now, let's assume that you do. We need to think of an attack or property that is somewhat special to the species you are."

"I'm still turning up blank. I don't know anything."

The Lucario was quiet for a moment, and then clapped his paws. "I've got it! How about Team AuraBlade?"

"Team AuraBlade? How'd you come up with that?"

"Lucario are one of the only species that can sense _auras_, and Leaf _Blade_ is an attack specific to your evolution line."

"Really? Well, I think it sounds great!"

"Then let's go with that," Aurealis smiled, writing 'Team AuraBlade' on the paper with all the precision his paw could muster. When he was finished, he signed his name meticulously and handed the paper to Grovyle. "You sign it now."

Grovyle accepted the paper and stared at the blank where his name was supposed to be_. 'I guess I'll have to go with Grovyle,'_ he thought, scribbling the name messily with a pointed piece of coal his partner had handed him. There was a glaringly obvious difference in their handwriting. "All done," he declared, giving the paper back to Mismagius. She looked at the paper before placing it inside a small chest.

"We'll have to wait until morning to find out whether the Exploration Federation accepted it or not," she explained. "So, you two should get some sleep. Manectric will show you your rooms. Oh, and here are two Big Apples. They were saved for you from dinner."

That said, Mismagius opened the chest, took out two Big Apples and threw them to Grovyle and Aurealis. The Lucario caught his, but the Grovyle did not, and the apple bounced off his arm and fell to the floor.

He hissed in annoyance and bent over to pick it up. As he did, he noticed a cluster of red stains on the ground. It was blood, he knew. And it appeared fresh. _'Huh, a bloodstain,'_ he thought while standing up, _'I suppose it could be Manectric's, or Mismagius'. They have scars, too…'_ It was then that he noticed the door in the back of the room was ajar. '_I wonder what's in there…'_

A sharp tug brought him back to reality. "Grovyle," Aurealis hissed, "Something wrong? We're going."

"Huh? What?" The Grovyle shook his head and realized everyone was looking at him. He'd been too deep in his thoughts for longer than he should have. "I must be more tired than I thought," he lied, yawning.

"Well, Manectric's going to show us our rooms now, so you'll get to sleep then… Now let's go."

"All right…"

Manectric eyed Grovyle suspiciously for a long second before nodding. He marched to the door and went on without another word. Aurealis waved one last bye before following the Manectric with his partner.

The trio went left upon exiting Mismagius' chamber and found themselves in a long, narrow hallway that branched out into many small rooms, most of which were occupied by sleeping Pokémon.

Finally, they arrived at the very end of the hall, where it branched out, for the last time, into two identical rooms. The Manectric pointed to the left one and barked, "This one is yours. It is now an hour or so before midnight. Wake up call is at sunrise. Torches go out at sunset." With that, the Manectric stomped away, quickly vanishing in the dark.

"That wasn't too detailed, was it," Grovyle sighed, entering the room with Aurealis right behind. In the dim light, the two could tell the room was as plain as can be. The room was circular and had just enough space for two beds and a thin aisle between them. A miniature, surprisingly clean window was the only thing that adorned the walls. "Well, it's not much," Grovyle evaluated, hopping onto the bed on the left, "but all I really need is a bed, so it's enough."

Aurealis nodded and silently sat down on the other bed, grinning peculiarly while gazing out the window.

"What're you grinning about?" the Grovyle asked quietly, not wanting to wake up the sleeping residents in the nearby rooms.

"We're finally going to start exploring tomorrow… I can't wait."

"I just hope our explorations will be different from the one we had today…"

"I'm sure they will… We're already more experienced than we were today. You'll need to learn how to fight, though."

"Yeah… It's frustrating; I don't know so many things…"

"We'll think of a solution tomorrow. We should eat our food and get some sleep."

"Don't think I'll be able to do the latter, though."

"Why not?"

"I've been thinking about the Mightyena that attacked me… At one point, one of them said, and I quote, 'I was sent to fulfill a job… And I will now do so.' That leads me to believe that someone out there doesn't want me alive. Who could that be? I don't remember any enemies I could have…" In truth, he was thinking about more than that. The bloodstains and the door in Mismagius' chamber kept rousing his curiosity. However, he decided to keep that to himself.

"Hmm… Do you think this has any connection to the Pokémon that beat you in Loran Forest? Maybe they intended to kill you there, so when they found out you were still alive, they sent the Mightyena to finish the job?"

"I can't say… After all, I don't remember anything from back then…"

"I thought so… Well, as I said, we should try to get some sleep for tomorrow."

"It'll be a big day, I guess…"

"Yes, it will."

After that, the two spoke no more and ate their late meal. After doing so, they gave their good nights and went to sleep. Truly, it would be a big day tomorrow.


	5. The First Day

"Wake up, Grovyle! Hurry up! We're going to be late!" Aurealis ordered. With that, the Grovyle felt a sharp pull on the long leaf on his head. Nice way to be woken up.

"Oh, all right," he grumbled, opening his eyes. He then froze and blinked. He wasn't in his room at the guild. He was alone in a dark corridor.

'_What the…'_

He had no idea where he was, but every detail of it seemed strangely familiar: the cracks and burns on the stone walls, the faint green glow that seemed to come from nowhere, and the ominous hum. "W-What is this?" he demanded, looking in all directions, "Where am I?"

"You failed," a rumbling voice bellowed, shaking the walls and the ground.

Grovyle jumped in fright and almost lost balance. He steadied himself and looked around for the speaker. There was no one there. "Who was that? …Show yourself!"

As an answer, a ferocious wind began to whip through the hallway with an unbelievable force. Almost being swept clear off his feet, the Grovyle ducked low and dug his claws into the floor, only to come face to face with a figure lying motionless right in front of him. It was covered in burns and cuts. But above all, he immediately recognized it as himself.

Grovyle inched back, startled. "What is the meaning of this?" he yelled, struggling to be heard over the wind.

"You failed," the voice repeated, the wind promptly stopping.

"Failed i_what_/i?" he cried, checking his other self's pulse. There was none; he was dead.

"Your purpose… You failed… You cannot run away from it…"

"But I… I'm not running! What are you talking about?"

"You will pay… The world will pay…"

With that, everything went quiet. The only sound Grovyle could hear was his own rapid breathing. Looking around, he realized there was no way out of the corridor - the crumbling walls stretched an infinite distance. But then, where did the wind come from?

"What is wrong with this place…? How did I get here? How do I get out?" he muttered, hoping the voice from before would say something that would shed some light on this eerie situation. "And why does this place seem so strangely familiar? And who is this?" he wondered, staring at the face of his dead self.

Suddenly, the other Grovyle's eyes shot open. The former Grovyle recoiled with a look of disgust. "But you're d-dead!" he stammered, backing away from his other self, who rose from the floor like a ghost and faced him coolly.

"We both are," he responded in a whisper and stepped towards the former ominously, the leaves on his arm beginning to glow in a bright green light as they merged into one.

"What…? What do you mean by that?"

The other Grovyle didn't answer. As if possessed, he kept walking to the former, and lifted his arm to attack.

"W-What are you doing?" the former panicked. He still didn't know any moves, nor was there anywhere to run. He shielded his face with his arms and braced himself.

"You failed," the latter roared. He then grabbed Grovyle, slammed him into the wall, and slashed.

"YAAAH!" screamed Grovyle, jolting upright from his bed and panting wildly. He looked around frantically but relaxed a bit when he noticed he was in his room at the guild. It was just a dream.

'_What the hell was that?'_ He calmed his rapid breathing and shook his head. Only then did he notice that Aurealis was next to him, saying something.

"Finally you're up!" growled the Lucario, "You slept through the primary wakeup call, and I've been trying to wake you up since then! Now we've got to go, the morning announcements start in the main hall in less than five minutes!"

Grovyle stared at the ground, still barely listening. He tried to take the dream off his mind but couldn't. Rubbing his eyes, he replied, "Aurealis… Couldn't we wait a bit longer…? I mean, it takes ten seconds to walk over there…"

To that, Aurealis sharply pulled the leaf on Grovyle's head, prompting him to yelp in pain. "It doesn't hurt to be early," the Lucario scolded, "Now let's go." It was apparent he was unwilling to miss any part of his first day in the guild.

"Ugh… All right, all right…"

Having emerged victorious, Aurealis turned around and disappeared out the door. Reluctantly, Grovyle stood up and followed him. As they walked through the corridor, he noticed that all the rooms were empty. Maybe they were late after all.

It took them ten seconds before they arrived at the main hall. The guild members were already there, standing in a semicircle around Mismagius and Manectric.

"You're late!" Manectric barked. Everyone turned to look at the two, and excited whispers came from the crowd. Aurealis shot his partner a glare. Grovyle noticed and grimaced in resignation.

"Yeah, sorry about that," he apologized, "We- err, I… overslept."

"I can see that," Manectric hissed. "Anyway, the guild is now in full attendance. You may begin, guildmaster."

With that, everyone turned back to Mismagius, who inspected everyone with her big, cheerful eyes. "Good morning everyone!" she sang, again with that mesmerizing voice, "Before we start the usual announcements, I'd like to announce our two new apprentices! Grovyle and Aurealis!"

Cheers erupted from the crowd, and the two apprentices found themselves surrounded by Pokémon eager to talk. Blushing a bit, they smiled nervously and greeted back. Unaccustomed to such social situations, they were almost glad when the ghost continued.

"Now, now," Mismagius interrupted, hushing the crowd, "You all will get to meet them later. After these announcements, I'll need to see them in my chamber. Anyway…I have rather bad news to share today. There is a rogue Pokémon in the vicinity of Magnolia Village…"

Grovyle and Aurealis looked at each other. _'A rogue Pokémon?_' thought Grovyle, _'Wow, I wasn't expecting this on the first day…'_

"…This Pokémon is extremely powerful. It appears that it has the ability to drain the life out of its environment."

The crowd burst into controversy. Grovyle and Aurealis, clueless about what was being said, could only stand there and listen. "Drain its environment?" "Why would anyone do ithat/i?" "So who's doing it?" "Yeah, who is it? And where is it?" "What will happen to our villa-"

"QUIET!" Manectric roared, electricity crackling in the air. The room instantly turned as quiet as the grave.

"Thank you, Manectric," Mismagius continued, "I know you are all curious about this, but unfortunately, this report came in just yesterday before dinner. We have minimal information. When we find out more, we'll be sure to let you know. For this morning, the announcements are finished... Grovyle and Aurealis, please come to my chamber. The rest of you carry on as normal. That is all."

The crowd then parted quickly. Most of the Pokémon moved to the massive bulletin board, while others created groups and gossiped about various subjects. The two new recruits, however, followed Mismagius and Manectric into the guildmaster's chamber. As soon as they entered, the door abruptly slammed itself shut. That was going to take some getting used to.

Mismagius floated over to the carpet while Manectric assumed his usual position beside her. Grovyle and Aurealis timidly walked over to them. The Lucario asked, "What did you want to see us about, Guildmaster?"

"Weren't you listening to the announcements?" she exclaimed merrily, "You two are officially the guild's newest rookies! You're one of us now!"

Aurealis couldn't suppress a grin and looked up at the ceiling with shining eyes. "I've finally done it…"

Grovyle turned to the Lucario and smiled. He was pretty contented himself; although he had never asked to be part of an exploration team, the traumas of yesterday left him quite close and indebted to the Lucario. Plus, having awoken less than 72 hours ago with no memory whatsoever, he was finally feeling a sense of purpose and belonging.

The Lucario noticed his partner's expression, too, and couldn't help but feel pure happiness – perhaps for the first time.

"Are you just going to stand there, or are you going to take your badge?" Manectric growled, snapping the two out of their moment of joy.

Mismagius promptly sighed. "Way to ruin the mood, Manectric. Always so blunt."

The canine huffed while Grovyle and Aurealis, puzzled, looked between the two.

"Oh, right!" Mismagius chirped, "The badge! Well, since you're now an official exploration team, you get what every team gets!" With that, the guildmaster rummaged through the large chest and revealed a small blue box that shone as if it was brand new. The two new apprentices moved closer and eyed it with interest.

Without any ado, Mismagius unlocked the box and exposed its contents. Grovyle and Aurealis peeked into it before she grabbed a badge that lay inside. "This is your explorer badge," she explained, "In other words, the badge that proclaims you two explorers! So don't lose it!"

"We won't," Aurealis quickly promised, accepting the badge. He and his partner examined it shortly and then turned their attention back to Mismagius.

"That badge, by the way, isn't just for show. It's imbued with a strange psychic power that allows you to teleport someone to safety when rescuing them from a dungeon."

Aurealis seemed to immediately absorb every word, but Grovyle looked skeptical. "What? You can just… iteleport/i someone? And what are those dungeons you mentioned?"

"Dungeons," his partner lectured, much to everyone's surprise, "or better said mystery dungeons, are basically places that are different every time you enter them. As the name implies, they really are a mystery – no one knows why they keep appearing or how it's possible that they change so fast." As he continued talking, the Lucario's eyes seemed to shine with excitement; his usually serious face was replaced by a faint smile. It was obvious he was taking the opportunity to try and be useful, while fantasizing about exploring. "But that's what's great about exploring! You never know what you'll find!"

Grovyle was lost. "So you're telling me that if I went into one of those 'mystery dungeons' or whatever three times, each time would be completely different? That's… ridiculous."

"Not ridiculous," replied Aurealis bluntly, "mysterious."

"Listen to your partner," Manectric barked in, "It's the truth."

Grovyle turned from Manectric to Aurealis in stubborn disbelief. "All right then," he tested, "what about those plains we were in yesterday? Was that a mystery dungeon?"

"No, of course not!" Mismagius chimed in, "Those were ordinary plains! There's really not much to change in them anyway. They're just flat."

"Oh... All right… I'm still not convinced, though."

"They're mystery dungeons, Grovyle," Mismagius kept on, "They're not supposed to make sense. Now, back on topic. Next from this box we have a treasure bag! Obviously, this is a bag for you to keep your items in, whether they be actually treasure or not." As she said that, she took out a moderately-sized, sturdy bag. It was beige in color and quite plain to look at, but the two could tell at once that a lot of stuff could fit into it.

"Thank you, Guildmaster," nodded Aurealis, acknowledging the bag and immediately pinning the badge to the front.

"Now… Last but definitely not least we have the wonder map!"

'_What's up with the cheesy names?'_ mused Grovyle, immediately discarding the thought and turning back to the ghost.

"The wonder map," Mismagius continued, handing Aurealis a rolled up paper that he stowed away into the bag, "is, as you might have guessed, a map of our region. It includes Magnolia Village, the Flat Fields, and tons of other places you've never even heard of before. Some areas are even uncharted; those are hidden under the illustration of a cloud. Those areas… it would be great to explore them, wouldn't it?"

"Yes, it would," agreed Aurealis, evidently entering another daydream about one such exploration.

Grovyle merely looked from him to the guildmaster. Being accepted was a nice feeling for him, but he had yet to get used to this entire 'mystery dungeon' thing.

"Now now," chuckled Mismagius, "I knew you'd get excited, but for the time being, you two are only apprentices. Such unknown areas are out of your league. For now, how about one of our fellow members gives you a quick tour and helps you pick your first mission?"

"Sounds good," said Grovyle.

"One imore/i thing!" she sang merrily, "Look inside your treasure bag!"

Curiously, Aurealis opened the bag and felt into it. He revealed two pieces of cloth – one golden, and the other crimson. Excluding color, the two seemed indistinguishable. He and his partner eyed them curiously, awaiting an explanation.

"You have no idea what those are, do you?" scoffed Manectric, his attitude beginning to be quite annoying.

Ignoring the canine completely, Mismagius informed, "Consider these a welcome gift! That red one is a Crimson Band, and the yellow one is a Golden Band. Besides color, they differ in the fact that the red one increases all the attack categories, while the other increases defenses."

"Isn't this too much?" asked the Lucario sheepishly, unused to receiving such generosity.

"Oh, not at all!" beamed the ghost, "All this is in favor for a good start."

"Well, thank you... very much," he thanked, tying the crimson band around his wrist and handing the golden one to his partner.

"Thanks Aurealis, I choose the yellow one," muttered Grovyle sarcastically, examining the cloth shortly before tying it around his right arm, careful not to aggravate the still present burn.

"That's all from me," concluded the guildmaster, "If you will, go find a Zangoose named Zero. He'll be the one who'll show you around."

"Sure," Aurealis affirmed, grabbing the bag and heading for the door with Grovyle tagging along, "Thank you again, guildmaster."

"Think nothing of it," she replied as they walked out the door.

The two returned to the bustling hall. As always, groups of Pokémon were crowded around the massive billboard, and a cheerful mood hung in the air. It was a bit too crowded perhaps, but cheerful nonetheless.

The only one who didn't appear quite so joyful was Grovyle. He was fine until Mismagius mentioned the mystery dungeons. Was this really what he would be doing? It sounded so outlandish… Sure, it excited him a bit, but not nearly as much as it did his partner.

The Lucario noticed Grovyle's thoughtfulness and jabbed the gecko's ribs, jolting him from his daydream with a slight yelp. "You're quieter than usual," remarked Aurealis, inspecting his partner's vacant expression, "Plus, you seemed a bit tetchy near the end of the visit. Is something wrong?"

Grovyle sighed. Not wanting to spoil his partner's mood, he decided to lie. "Nah, I'm just thinking."

"Thinking? About what?"

"Uh… About a nightmare I had. Luckily, you woke me up in the middle of it."

"Do you remember what it was about?"

"Every detail," he answered and then proceeded to summarize his dream. It was hard to explain how peculiar it was and how familiar the setting felt and he wasn't sure whether he was getting the message across. Either way, at least he had d changed the subject.

"Can you describe the temple?" the Lucario asked, maintaining a straight face but appearing to be deep in thought.

"Sure… It was extremely long for one thing; I'm not sure if it had an end. It had cracks and burns all over the walls and floors. Something seemed to glow a barely visible green, but I'm not sure what. There was also this soft humming…"

"Grovyle," breathed Aurealis, "that sounds exactly like the temple I found you in. Except for, perhaps, the length of the hall."

"Are you serious?" gasped the grass type, surprised at the unexpected turn the conversation had taken, "That could explain everything! Maybe that's what the voice meant by my failure… I still don't get why I saw my clone killing me, though."

Aurealis shrugged and, after a short silence, declared, "Well, that's one more thing to add to our to-do list. Find out what your dream means!"

Grovyle smiled. "Thanks, Aurealis. I appreciate that."

The Lucario punched him lightly on the left shoulder and returned the smile. "Now, weren't we supposed to look for that Zangoose?"

"Right, let's."

The two scanned the room for a Zangoose until they finally spotted one near the giant billboard. "There he is," Aurealis said, pointing at a bipedal white and red Pokémon.

"Let's go talk to him then," suggested Grovyle. The two did so and made their way through the crowd of residents. For the first time they noticed the number of Pokémon – there were about 40 in the main hall. Were they all exploration teams? If so, then they sure had a lot of competition.

The area around the board was very densely populated, but the two made it through. As they did, they received a number of 'Hi's and 'Hello's. They smiled, greeted back, and kept going, finally reaching the Zangoose, who was presently reading a sheet of paper.

Aurealis appeared shy and hesitant at first, but he noticed Grovyle looking at him impatiently. The Lucario nodded and tapped the Zangoose. "Are you Zero, the Zangoose?" he demanded, doing a fairly good job at overcoming his timidity and speaking up.

The Zangoose turned around slowly and looked over the two while they looked over him. He was the average Zangoose, except he had a tuft of white fur streaking down over his left eye. His gestures suggested that he was the kind of guy who didn't take the world seriously. "Yeah, that's me," he replied in a laidback tone, "But just Zero. I hate the name of my species."

"Uh, right," Grovyle continued instead, "We were told to that you could show us how things go around here."

Zero's eyes suddenly widened as if he had just had a revelation. "It's you two, the newbies! I forgot to see how you were doin'. Now I see you're doin' just fine… Anywho, sure I can show you around. Now wait just a moment… Dexter!"

On cue, a Flygon materialized from the crowd. He flew over to them and noticed the new apprentices. "Hi!" he greeted, "I'm glad to see that you two are up. Everyone was a little worried."

"We're fine," Aurealis insisted, "Really."

"That's good to hear," smiled the Flygon politely, "I'm Dexter, if you didn't figure it out yet. Together with Zero, we form team Groundbreak. What are your names? I didn't quite catch them in the announcements."

"I'm Grovyle," answered the grass type, "Long story short, I don't remember my name so I'm stuck with that."

"And I'm Aurealis. Our team is team AuraBlade."

"Nice to meet you two then. You're going for a tour, right? We all went through the same thing once. Anyway, we might as well start. First things first. This bulletin board is where available missions are listed. Those range from helping out a lost citizen to capturing wanted outlaws-"

"We're going to be capturing outlaws?" asked Grovyle incredulously.

"Well of course," Zero intervened, "You're gonna be doin' that pretty often. Don't worry; the outlaws ain't all painfully tough. Some of 'em are just thieves."

"Right…"

"Back to what I was saying," continued Dexter, "Here, you choose your missions, accept them, and then, obviously, go do them. They all take place in mystery dungeons. Anyway, that's the basis of what we do around here. Since you already know where the infirmary is, there's nothing more to say about the inside of the guild. We should show you Magnolia Square now."

"Magnolia Square?" inferred Aurealis, "Is that where all the markets are?"

"Yep."

With that, the four of them made their way to the stairs and exited the guild. Before they could go any further, Dexter stopped, remembering another piece of information. "Just one little thing," he added, "There's a lake right behind the guild. It's behind a few trees, but you might be able to see it from here. Anyway, you're required to swim in it at least five times a week. You know, to keep the guild clean."

"That makes sense," reflected Grovyle, his partner nodding.

"It does," dittoed Zero. "Now let's get going."

Thus, the four strolled to Magnolia Square, getting to know each other better on the way. Soon, they reached their destination. It was a little more populous than before, but otherwise it was the same as they remembered it.

"Oh, geez," commented Grovyle, "Looking at all the markets here makes me hungry…"

Aurealis rolled his eyes while Dexter took the opportunity to explain what was what: "In that case, you'd buy some food over at the Castform Market. That's right over there, where you see one Rainy Castform and one Sunny Castform. They sell orbs, TM's, food, and the like."

"All right," confirmed the Lucario and Grovyle simultaneously – though the latter couldn't have had any idea what orbs and TM's were.

"Next," continued Dexter, "we have the storage. It's run by a Magmortar. He stores your money and items and, as he always says, 'will protect them with his life'."

"That sounds useful," noted Grovyle, who was not focusing on the storage but rather at the Castform Market.

"It is," lectured Zero, "If you're goin' into a tough dungeon, you might 's well leave your money here."

"Why?"

"Oh, I didn't mention that?" Aurealis said, "When you're knocked out in a dungeon, you're kicked right out. In addition to that, you lose all your money and half or more of your items."

Grovyle remained quiet and stared in bewilderment. Finally, he remarked, "These mystery dungeons are sounding more bizarre by the minute."

His partner smiled. "We should explore one; you'll get a much better sense of what they're like when you're in one."

"That's true," put in Dexter, "Speaking of which, do you need help choosing your first mission? You've seen all you need to."

"No thanks," replied Grovyle, seeing as Aurealis was too indecisive to answer.

"Okay then, one last thing. Missions are ranked with an E, D, C, B, A, S, and then further by stars. E is the easiest and the stars are the hardest. And I mean extremely hard. Don't even think about doing those. Stick to E for now, okay?"

"Gotcha."

"Well awright then," yawned Zero, who appeared to be falling asleep on his feet, "Be seein' you around."

"Yeah. See ya!"

Grovyle and Aurealis turned around and headed back to the guild. Their minds undistracted, they noticed what a great day it was. The sun was high and radiant and pleasant breezes occasionally blew through the village, which was now significantly livelier. As was Grovyle – he may have gotten off on the wrong foot with the mystery dungeon idea, but now it seemed to be replaced by an apparent eagerness to learn.

Aurealis noticed that and asked, "What should we do for our first mission?"

Grovyle didn't answer until the two rounded the turn that led back to the guild. "A relatively easy one. Don't forget I'm still defenseless."

"Just because you don't know any moves doesn't mean you're defenseless. You have claws, don't you? You can attack with those. Sure, a normal physical attack like that isn't very powerful, and it can leave you vulnerable, but it's better than nothing."

"You're right, I suppose. Anyway, to restate my answer, I think we should just see what missions are on the board and choose from there."

"I agree with that."

Meanwhile, the two had arrived at the entrance of the guild. They stepped down the stairs and made their way to the hall. It was much emptier; most Pokémon from earlier had already left for their missions or moved to Magnolia Square.

"All right," Aurealis pointed out, "all the missions left on here are marked either D or E. As Dexter said, we should start with E. Let's look for one that looks promising."

"Here's one," exclaimed Grovyle, ripping it off the panel without a second thought, "It says: iHello explorers, my name is Pidgey. My best friend Taillow is lost in a dungeon but I'm too weak to go in there… Please help!/i …Yep, that's the gist of it."

"It'll do for our first mission. Which dungeon is it in?"

"Uh… Let me see… Some 'Tremolo Cave'. What a weird name."

"Oh, I've been there before. It's not far, the cave is small, and the local Pokémon are weak. I could teach you one or two things along the way."

"Yeah, but… Why are we going to be picking fights with innocent residents?"

"We're not. Remember when I told you more and more Pokémon are getting very violent? Well, in mystery dungeons, the inhabitants are corrupted or something and will generally attack you when they see you."

"Oh, excellent. Just what I needed."

"Hey, come on. I'm not going to let you faint or anything like that. You just need to learn firsthand how to fight, that's all."

"All right, all right. We should just get going. The sooner we leave the better."

Aurealis sneaked a rare smile and the two walked out the guild. The sun's position indicated it was a bit before noon, meaning that the two had a lot of time for their mission. Not wanting to waste any, though, the two set off as soon as they could. Unknown to them, a pair of red eyes was constantly watching…


	6. Revelations

"We're here," declared Aurealis bluntly, stopping in front of the formidable mouth of Tremolo Cave. Jagged stalagmites and stalactites protruded from the walls like a warning to those who dared to enter.

Grovyle squinted inside. "It's quite dark in there," he remarked, suddenly feeling a little jittery.

His partner, being able to sense auras, could easily notice. "If we stick together, what's the worst that could happen?"

The grass type grimaced. "Aurealis, you have just cursed our mission. iNever/i ask that again."

"As you like. Anyway, do you remember the paper saying which floor Taillow is on?"

"Which floor? I didn't know these dungeons have elevators."

"They don't…! They go deeper and deeper or higher and higher, depending on the dungeon."

"Seriously, these dungeons are getting weirder and weirder… Anyway, I think I do recall seeing 'BF4'. That's means the fourth floor, right?"

"If that's what it said, then yes. But we won't find out by standing here. Let's pass our first mission!"

"Right after you."

Rocky subterranean – that was all that came to mind as they entered the cave. The walls were a monotonic earthy bronze while the ground was jagged and occasionally pricked their feet. In addition to the murkiness inside, the air was bitter and damp. It was hard to intentionally enter such an unwelcoming place, but their mission required them to. So there they were; wandering around searching for the way down.

It was only on the second 'floor' that they encountered the first local. More specifically, he was a Wurmple, the tiny bug kind of Pokémon you see in forests, not hazardous caves such as this one. And much like Aurealis had said, he froze and immediately took on a hostile expression.

"Why is he staring at us like that?" demanded Grovyle, staring at the contemptuous bug with apprehension.

"You're not afraid of that little thing, are you?" jeered Aurealis, having another try at humor and jokingly pushing Grovyle towards the enemy. Grovyle could have sworn the Wurmple was chuckling right then.

"This isn't funny!" snapped the gecko, stepping back while keeping his eyes watchfully on him.

"It is, a little bit," argued the Lucario, the rare mischievous smile plastered annoyingly on his face, "You're acting serious about one little worm."

"For all I know, I've never fought before in my life! Even that worm has more experience than I do!"

"We'll have to do something about that," declared Aurealis suddenly, shoving his playfulness from earlier aside. "First and foremost, always look at your opponent. While you're looking at me, he could be preparing to knock you out with one blow… …Not likely. Anyway, by analyzing your foe's movements, you can predict what he'll do next."

"Just get to the part where I beat him up," muttered Grovyle, trying to hide his anxiety towards the situation.

"That may be slightly challenging as you don't know any moves, but all right. That Wurmple is small so you might as well defeat him by stomping on him. Otherwise, just slash at him. Either jump back or follow it up with another slash, but as long as your opponent is conscious, never just stand there afterwards to inspect the damage you've done. That gives him an opportunity to strike back."

"Okay, I'll give it a-" Before Grovyle could move, the Wurmple shot a silky, silver string from its mouth that started to stick to his feet, "What's he doing?" hissed Grovyle uneasily, trying to move his feet timidly.

Aurealis suppressed a grin. "That," he hinted cryptically, "is going to be your fall."

"This isn't the time for riddles," snapped Grovyle, gazing between the string and the Lucario, "I'm serious! Is this stuff dangerous?"

Meanwhile the Wurmple continued to shoot the string that began to glue the grass type's feet to the ground. "Wait," Grovyle exclaimed in realization, "Is this supposed to slow me down?"

"Yes."

"Are you kidding?" he scoffed, "This thin little web is supposed to have an effect?"

"It's strange, I know. Now, please go defeat that bug; let's not waste so much time."

"Right," declared Grovyle determinedly, lunging for the bug. Unfortunately, he had completely underestimated the stickiness of the string and let out a yelp as he tripped over it and fell flat onto his face. The Wurmple skipped over to him and started jabbing his face with the small stinger on his head, prompting Grovyle to groan and Aurealis to chuckle amusedly.

"You little f- Ugh!" cried the gecko, swatting the Wurmple away and rubbing his cheek, which was now a little red and slightly swollen, "What the hell? You're supposed to be teaching me how to fight, not how to embarrass myself!"

"You're right, I'm sorry… Are you going to be fine? Do you need to go back to the guild for treatment?" Aurealis almost chuckled at his own words of derision.

"Yeah, really funny! Just keep rubbing it in," he grumbled, "I thought you were actually going to try and teach me something, but apparently not."

At this, Aurealis appeared offended. He didn't know how to take it and looked down with shame. "You're right, I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me; I suddenly had the urge to do it. I won't do anything like that again, I promise."

"It doesn't matter," the Grovyle huffed, still rubbing his cheek. Regaining his calm, he sat up and wrenched his foot out from the hardened web. He then looked around for the Wurmple but couldn't see it anywhere. "Hey, where'd the bug go?"

Aurealis shrugged. "He probably ran off after you swatted it. No matter. Let's not forget about our mission. You can try fighting when we run into locals but we should get going now."

"Agreed."

So, the two kept pressing on through the dungeon, as inhospitable and gloomy as it was. Every floor deeper, the ground seemed to get sharper and the air colder. Despite that, they reached the fourth floor without any more hassles. Sure, they encountered a few residents along the way, but Grovyle, with the occasional help from Aurealis, managed to fend them off. He was improving in his physical attacks quite quickly, giving the impression that he had in fact been an adept fighter sometime in his past. But there was still no indication of him remembering any moves.

Presently, however, they had to focus on finding the Taillow. It was proving to be surprisingly difficult, and not just because they couldn't find the Pokémon in question.

"Aurealis, when are we going to find that guy… or girl? This isn't fun anymore and I'm getting tired again. Not to mention hungry," complained Grovyle.

"Oh, that's another thing I didn't tell you," lectured his partner while ignoring the whining, "In mystery dungeons, you get tired and hungry relatively quickly. For some reason, the place drains your energy and if you reach zero, well, of course, you get teleported back to the entrance, unconscious."

"All right, but how come you don't seem to be feeling anything? I mean, I already feel as if I've been fasting for a day."

"I can think of two reasons for that. One, I'm both the fighting and steel type, both of which can endure a lot. Two, you've woken up only a few days ago from a long sleep, so it'll take time for you to get back into shape. With a lot of training, it shouldn't take as long."

"That's a relief… My situation is extremely frustrating."

"I know, but you will have to get through it."

"Yeah..."

With nothing more to say, the two kept walking onwards through the halls of the cave. Everything was progressively dimmer and the silence was unnerving. Grovyle was so lost in these senses he almost bumped into Aurealis, who had stopped abruptly and was staring intently into the darkness.

"Aurealis? What's wrong?"

"I can feel a positive aura nearby," he foreshadowed, "It's a female Taillow's. I presume she's in the next room."

"Oh, finally," yawned Grovyle, "I've been getting anxious to get back. It's getting really dark and cold in here, if you haven't noticed. And after what's been happening the past few days I prefer to avoid the darkness."

At the last part of that statement, Aurealis suddenly tensed and his aura sensors hovered into the air. He shook his head momentarily before expelling the apprehension on his face. It was too dark for Grovyle to notice. "Yes," the Lucario said slowly, "We can get out once we find Taillow."

The grass type nodded and the two continued to walk in silence, now scanning the surroundings for the Pokémon they were looking for. What a strange place for a Taillow to be, anyway. This cave didn't hold any treasures at all so there was nothing a non-explorer could gain from entering it. In fact, it bordered on bizarre – the ground was rocky to the point where it was easy to trip and get several stones embedded into your face; the air was cold and not comfortable to breathe; there was no comprehensible reason as of yet why a Pokémon, especially a Taillow, would enter such a cave.

However, neither Grovyle nor Aurealis gave it any thought as they entered the next room – or a small chamber, more accurately. The gecko strained his eyes to see three meters but Aurealis simply declared, "The Taillow is here, you'll be able to see her soon."

"Hello?" a young voice chirped waveringly, the prolonged echo making it hard to place, "Is… someone there? Oh, please… help me!"

"Don't worry, we're an exploration team," Aurealis placated with audible pride as he stepped towards the origin of the voice, "We were sent to rescue you."

"Thank goodness…" the character presumed as Taillow replied, "I was beginning to think… no one would help."

"That's okay; Team AuraBlade's here now!" declared Grovyle, finally reaching the Taillow with his partner. Any positive feelings they had, though, were wiped away when they saw her – the bird was battered and cut, her wing bent abnormally and her left eye black and puffy.

"Oh, Arceus," breathed Aurealis and Grovyle almost simultaneously, "What happened to you?"

The Taillow suddenly looked indifferent as if she was only on a walk in the park. "I'm fine," she insisted, puffing her feathers to appear more imposing, "Besides, you don't look topnotch either, um… What are your names?"

"I'm Aurealis."

"And I'm just Grovyle. For the time being, anyway. Long story short, I forgot my name."

"Interesting," evaluated the bird, "Not to rush you or anything but I do wish to get out of here now."

"That can be arranged," assured Aurealis, "Grovyle, you have the treasure bag, and the badge."

At that, the gecko's face turned as pale as chalk. "I… have the badge? You never gave it to me," he responded nervously, trying to avoid the daggers his partner glared at him consequently.

"You're joking!" the Lucario growled, quite furious but evidently appalled. "So now we have to walk all the way back?"

"Hey, you were in charge of preparing our items! I assumed you had the bag!"

Aurealis recoiled as if he had been hit with a brick. "I wasn't in charge of anything of such kind!"

"Yes you were! You were the one who received all the stuff from Mismagius, and you never gave anything to me!"

Aurealis couldn't find a response and his expression went glum. True, he couldn't remember who had the bag last. "You might be right… Perhaps I should pay more attention…"

Grovyle remained quiet for a bit but then began chuckling. He sneered, "You really are gullible, Aurealis. And I thought I was the one with a bad memor-."

Aurealis growled at the gecko's smug grin and smacked him lightly on the nose, but enough so that it hurt. The grass type cried out and gripped his muzzle in pain.

"I'm sorry, you were saying?" the Lucario derided, a smirk tugging at his cheek.

Grovyle kept clutching his nose and fighting the tears that came involuntarily. "Damn it," he hissed, shaking his head and collecting himself, "What the heck was that for?"

"Don't pull pranks on me like that."

"So, what? You get to make fun of me by taking advantage of my amnesia, and I can't have my revenge?"

"You can, but you have to expect another blow like that."

"How is that fair?"

"It's not."

Grovyle glared at him in disgust, giving his nose a final rub. "What is wrong with you? Why are you so mean to me since the start of this mission? You just promised you'd act normally a few minutes ago! What happened to that? And anyway, I'll get my vengeance one day, mark my words."

The Lucario returned the glare, unfazed. "I don't know what you're talking about but I think you'll need a lot more training before you try."

The two's eyes locked and they stared at each other for a long moment until a shrill voice cut in, "Ahem, excuse me? Can we go now? You're a weird exploration team."

Grovyle turned to the Taillow, a bit vexed. "Sorry for the holdup," he hissed, attempting to sound polite. He held up his badge and declared, "Okay, we'll be out of here in… Wait, how do you use this thing?"

Before anyone could move, the three were surrounded in an intense golden light. In the blink of an eye, the light was gone, and they found themselves at the familiar mouth of Tremolo Cave. They stood on a dirt path that snaked between the trees and eventually led, Grovyle and Aurealis knew, to Magnolia Village.

"Here we are," rejoiced the Taillow, "Out of the cave at last."

"Now there's the trip back to the guild," informed Aurealis, "but that will only be less than ten minutes of walking."

The Taillow shuffled uneasily but Aurealis took off. Grovyle looked from his partner to her, and back, and then followed. The bird huffed and hopped after them awkwardly. 'Some kind of team they are', she thought, 'What does an injured bird have to do to get help around here? Have they no respect? How pitiful.'

As if Grovyle had heard her, the gecko turned around and inspected the bird's step. Frowning, he stopped and knelt beside her. "You don't look too good," he asserted, "Can you keep going? And don't just say you're fine; that's just saying the opposite."

"What am I supposed to say, then?" the Taillow challenged, her ego trying to make a last stand.

"Well, maybe something like, 'My leg hurts'. I don't know. So how ido/i you feel?"

The bird sighed, submitting to herself. "I would appreciate a lift."

"Sure," grinned the grass type, picking up her small and light body in his hands, "I know just how you feel when you can't keep walking but nobody really cares."

The grass type started walking after Aurealis, who was already way ahead and out of earshot. "How would you know?" asked the Taillow, trying to keep her eyes on the path, "You two have each other to rely on."

"I'll have you know that we're a new exploration team – in fact, we were accepted this morning, and this is our first mission."

She squawked and flapped her healthy wing angrily. "They don't even bother sending iqualified/i teams after me, just because I'm lost in a small dungeon? What an iinsult/i!"

"Hey, I'm sorry. If you want, you can go back in there and wait for a better team."

"How rude!" snapped the bid, pecking his arm.

"Well excuse me; you're not being very nice, either."

As a response, she pecked him again, harder this time. Grovyle winced and muttered, "What is up with everyone's attitude today?"

"Anyway, you were saying?"

"Oh, right. As I said, we're a new exploration team. But the fact is I didn't really want to be an explorer; Aurealis kind of talked me into it. He's really happy now, I think; it was his dream to explore, and he never got the chance to visit the guild until I showed up. And now it's too late to quit, because if I do, he'll be crushed. I don't want to do that to him. I just have to go along with it and try to act like I care."

"…So, now that you're an explorer, you hate it?"

"Well, no, that's an exaggeration. I just… don't feel right in the guild. It's like I belong somewhere else."

"Is there something wrong with guild, or is it how you feel?"

"It's a little bit of both, really. Sure, most of the Pokémon there are nice, but the guildmaster's partner, a Manectric, is starting to get on my nerves. As for my feelings, as I said, something about that place doesn't seem right to me."

"Wait a minute… What guild do you work for?"

"Mismagius Guild. Does it matter?"

The bird shrank back in his arms with her beak wide open and eyes wide. "Yes it matters! Don't you know that Mismagius Guild is-"

A deep and resonating growl suddenly cut them short, causing them to flinch in surprise.

"W-What was that?" Taillow whispered, her feathers standing on end.

Grovyle grit his teeth and looked around nervously. "I don't know, but it's close, and I think it's been following us." Silently, he prayed it wasn't what he thought it was, and started sprinting down the path. "We need to catch up with Aurealis, right now."

"I can't see him! He was right ahead of us-"

"iThere/i you are!" shouted a familiarly low voice. A Lucario stepped out from behind a cluster of trees. Grovyle skidded to a stop, exhaling with relief. "Aurealis, I think the Mightyena are following us again."

"Calm down; nobody's following us. I don't feel any malevolent auras."

"Then what was that growl I heard moments ago?" the Taillow quickly protested.

"I don't know, but you must have imagined it. I don't feel any auras except for yours."

"I didn't imagine it!"

"Neither did I!" Grovyle put in.

"Listen, it doesn't matter. Whatever it is that you started running from, it's not following you. And either way, we should keep going. It's already afternoon."

The gecko sighed, turning back one last time to inspect the shadows. "All right, fine…" With that, the three continued walking, but the two of them, still a little edgy, fell behind again.

"You can't let this go, just like that!" hissed the bird, glaring at him with such intensity it felt like a slap in the face.

"Yeah, I, uh… What's the point in arguing? We're safe now anyway."

"This time you might be right, but you need to stand up for yourself once in a while!"

"Right… I-I've been thinking that, too. Oh, look – I can see the walls of the village. Speaking of which… What were you going to say about Mismagius Guild?"

For the first time, the Taillow's gaze faltered and she looked away. "Nothing… Just, um, forget what I said."

"Uh, okay, sure..."

"Aurealis and Grovyle, Aurealis and Grovyle, Aurealis and-"

"Please, you don't have to say that every time you see us," Grovyle interrupted, a bit moody after the mission.

"I do; it's my job," the Sentret persisted, proceeding to complete his third call of their names.

The three proceeded to walk through the purple doorway and down the stairs. The hall was still stuffed, unsurprisingly. After all, the day was drawing to a close, so most exploration teams were back already and sharing their stories.

The three had to push their way through the crowd; it was a good thing the small bird was in Grovyle's arms, otherwise she would have gotten either lost or stomped on.

The door to Mismagius' chamber was closed, as always. It appeared she savored her privacy. Either that or, more likely, she detested the noise outside. Even then it was becoming unbearable standing in the room, so the three were anxious to leave.

Aurealis knocked on the thick door, prompting a hollow noise and Manectric's routine bark, "Come in!"

The door flung open outwards, almost hitting them in the face. The Taillow trembled in fear and muttered incoherently, but the other two were already accustomed to the abrupt and awkward ways of the guildmaster and her right hand.

The three entered, and Grovyle couldn't help but immediately notice – again, the back door was ajar.

"Oh, it's you!" Mismagius cheered, greeting them with a bright smile as if she had been eagerly awaiting them all day, "You're back from your first mission, I presume! The fact that you two are back well and with a third implies that you succeeded, am I right?"

Aurealis nodded and smiled back. Grovyle stood there deep in thought, but the Taillow was shaking with apprehension and whimpering at the sight of Manectric, who sat imposingly like a gargoyle statue next to the guildmaster.

"What's wrong?" Grovyle whispered to the bird, cradling her while Mismagius foraged through her chest for an item.

"D-Don't look at me," she stammered, never averting her gaze from Manectric's gleaming red eyes.

"Why? What's going-"

"A-haa!" declared Mismagius, breaking the tension with her smooth, mesmeric voice, "Here it is! Your team's record!"

"Record?" Aurealis asked, probably being the only one who cared about what was being said.

"That's right, we keep a detailed record of the jobs you do! Depending on how many missions you successfully complete and how hard they were, you may rise to the Master rank, reserved for only the best explorers!"

"The best… explorers," Aurealis repeated, returning to his fantasies of exploring wonderful caves and establishing an unsaid promise that he would, one day, reach such a rank.

His partner, however, did not share his enthusiasm – the Grovyle was confusedly regarding the Taillow, who was constantly whining, as if something dreadful were about to happen.

"Right now, you have 10 so-called points," Mismagius lectured briefly, unknowing of Taillow's condition, "And that's the most you'll ever get out of an E-rank job. Naturally, harder jobs make you a better team and give you more points, so do try to push yourselves."

"Will do," affirmed the Lucario, eyes glistening with anticipation. Yet still, the other two were paying no attention.

"Now," the guildmaster finally said, "you two should go complete your mission and bring Taillow to your client. That is what the mission is, isn't it?" This was the first time Mismagius had addressed the Taillow, whom shrank back even farther into Grovyle's arms.

"Oh, yeah," replied the grass type, finally snapping out of his thoughts, "I almost forgot about that. Do you know where we might find Pidgey, the client?"

"He should be waiting at the billboard, if you can find him there. The hall is very busy today."

"Please don't take me, please don't take me," the Taillow whimpered, silent enough so only Grovyle could hear. The gecko type leaned over in worry.

"What's wrong?" he asked, drawing everyone's attention.

The Taillow's eyes were watering, and she looked back at everyone with utter terror written on her face. "I-I'm just… just traumatized a-after the experience…"

Manectric stared at her long and hard before Mismagius nodded knowingly. "You may visit the healing room first, if you'd like. But I think it would be best if you let Pidgey take care of you."

"I think that's a good idea," confirmed Aurealis, effectively ending the small talk. It was time to leave, but apparently the Taillow was increasingly upset as Team AuraBlade made their way towards the door.

"I'll be going for a walk," Manectric announced randomly, yet purposefully, and followed the team out the door. Mismagius nodded.

"All right. Bye, you two!"

"Bye!"

The moment the door closed behind them and Manectric vanished in the crowd, Taillow took a deep breath and pecked Grovyle to get his attention. "Listen," she whispered in a reserved, faltering voice, "I need to talk to you, alone. And quickly. I don't have much time left."

"Uh, sure," the wood gecko replied slowly as they made their way to the corner of the chamber, hidden by the crowd. Aurealis had gone to look for the Pidgey and had not noticed their detour.

The Taillow, her face fearful but dead serious, inhaled again. "This will be hard for you to believe, but please don't interrupt. And most importantly, idon't draw any attention to us/i. Any moment now, my life will be at its end and I need to warn you – Mismagius Guild is a bad place. Information shows that one of the members is a criminal mastermind. Whoever it is, they've got spies everywhere. They lurk in the shadows and brainwash other members, they say. And if anyone finds out the truth, they'll be caught, killed, and used for dinner. That's what's going to happen to me. But please, Grovyle, for your good, don't tell anyone; don't trust anyone, not even your partner. You could be next."

The Taillow stopped for effect, but she didn't need to. Grovyle's face grew pale as the words hit him one by one. Speechless, his mind, in instinctive denial, strung together a feeble argument. "You can't be serious, there's no way. This guild is famous and accomplished, so surely someone would have noticed-"

"There you are!" a voice interrupted, making them jump from their tense atmosphere. It was Aurealis, "You two keep disappearing. What are you doing over here? The billboard's way over there. Come on."

The Lucario waited while Grovyle and the Taillow stared at each other for a long moment. Finally, Grovyle shook his head and walked with Aurealis to the board. Taillow's wings drooped. She hoped the gecko believed her…

The two pushed through the slightly diminishing crowd. It was late afternoon so now the visitors, the majority of the population, were leaving the premises.

Owing to that, the small client they were looking for was easier to spot. Perched on the top wooden beam of the billboard, Pidgey noticed them and flew down to meet them.

"Taillow!" he exclaimed, fluttering by and landing on Grovyle's arm. The grass type set them down gently, and they embraced each other with their wings. "How are you?"

"I… I'm good," the blue bird responded, hiding her anxiety well, "A little shaken, but I'll be fine. Please… let's go home…"

"Of course. First thing you'll do is get a long rest," the Pidgey reassured, suspicious of his partner's weariness. He then turned to Aurealis. "Thank you for rescuing Taillow. She owes you her life. The least we can give in return is this…"

The Pidgey revealed an Oran Berry from a pouch slung across his shoulder and handed it to Aurealis. He then searched through it and gave Aurealis two 500 Poké coins.

Aurealis and Grovyle, despite Grovyle's thoughts being elsewhere, gaped at the Pidgey in disbelief. "You can't give us this much," Aurealis breathed, not expecting such a reward.

"Oh, of course I can. As I said, it's the least we could give for your rescuing my friend."

"Well, uh… Thank you, very much. We'll never forget your generosity."

"Likewise. It was nice meeting you."

With that, Pidgey turned to leave, but Taillow caught Grovyle's attention one last time with another peck, this time to his foot. "Remember," she murmured to him ominously, "Don't trust anyone. Make sure nobody finds out that you know. Good luck… Arceus help you. Oh, and… Watch out for dinner tonight."

And without another word, the two birds were on their way.

Grovyle stumbled back into his room. He didn't care where Aurealis was, or where anybody was for that matter. He needed to think. What Taillow had said came as a shock and he needed time to gather himself. Grovyle sat on his bed, holding his head in his claws.

'_What she said can't be true,_' he told himself firmly, _'This guild is famous. If there was a criminal in here, people would eventually notice. Especially since this guild is associated with the Exploration Federation… Besides, she said it was just a rumor.'_

Feeling relieved by his own arguments, he continued, _'I'm pretty sure people made this up just because the staff here is a little awkward. And maybe Taillow was just worn out after that dungeon. After all, she could barely walk…'_

'_Yeah, that's it. You're reading too much into this, anyway. You and Aurealis are in an official exploration team now, and even though you've never wanted it, I'm sure you'll make a great one.'_

'_Wait, what? It's not like me to say that…'_ He sighed. '_I must be getting tired, too. I'll just wait for dinner; it ought to be soon. I'm pretty hungry…'_

Dinner really was soon. After being separated for the rest of the day, Grovyle and Aurealis met in the hall and, after a brief conversation of where the other had been, made their way to the dinner table. It was difficult to find so they ended up asking a local. It turned out there was another flight of stairs below the one that led to the surface.

Descending the stairs, they found a room dedicated entirely to a large table surrounded by chairs, most of which were already occupied. Similarly, the table was already laden with meat, fruit, and berries, and the smell of it all made Grovyle's stomach growl and mouth water. He had all but forgotten about the Taillow's warning.

Team AuraBlade was greeted heartily as they sat down on two free chairs next to Zero and Dexter. Grovyle and Aurealis introduced themselves personally to the other members; there were a good many; there was a Pokémon of each type, it seemed.

Once the introductions were over, the delicious meal and jovial conversation followed. While munching on the food, everyone told stories of their day; of their missions and the adventures they had. Zero and Dexter enthusiastically described how they explored Diamond Pit, and how Zero mistook a Bronzor for a jewel and the result was not-so-happy family of Bronzong chasing them around.

Then, much to Grovyle's dismay, it was their turn to talk about their day. And of course, it was Aurealis who decided to talk. 'Oh, great,' grumbled Grovyle to himself while the Lucario began his narrative, 'I'm going to listen to Wurmple jokes for the rest of my life…'

Sure enough, soon came the part about Grovyle's first encounter with a hostile Pokémon. It didn't go well. Aurealis twisted the story for his benefit and everyone laughed. The wood gecko, glaring forward in anger and embarrassment, cried, "In my defense, it was the first time I'd fought with someone, and I didn't know anything about Pokémon moves!"

"Hey, Grovyle," sneered Zero, ignoring the previous argument completely, "Why's your face so red?"

The grass type's eyes widened as he felt himself blush, prompting another laugh out of the Pokémon. Taking a last bite out of the apple he was eating, he stood up and growled, "This isn't funny. Makes a good story, yes, but not funny." With that, he pushed in his chair [rather roughly] and added, "I'm off to bed, see you guys later."

Storming away from the idle laugh and chatter, he headed towards the stairs but stopped when he noticed Manectric chomping away silently on a piece of meat. Grovyle wondered why he was staring at it until a memory hit him:

i "…And if anyone finds out the truth, they'll be caught, killed, and used for dinner. That's what's going to happen to me…"/i

The gecko shook his head, dispelling the thought and taking another step. He cursed as his own doubt and uncertainty stopped him. _'Oh, come on!_' his mind insisted, '_this is ridiculous! You just ate a bunch of meat for dinner and nothing was out of the ordinary. Forget that Taillow; she was being paranoid, and now, so are you. This guild is certified and famous. If there was something wrong with it, someone would have noticed by now.'_

Still his curiosity wouldn't allow him to take one more step up the stairs. He sighed in exasperation and turned back to walk to the chef, a Marowak, who was sitting at the table. She was presently nibbling on a berry, but Grovyle tapped her shoulder, stopping her.

"I'm just curious," he asked, fumbling to find the right words while constantly telling himself it was ridiculous, "Do you usually have meat for dinner?"

"Um, no, we have it on very rare occasions," she replied, confused by the question.

"I see," he continued, a sense of dread accumulating but his mind still in denial, "So what was it that we had for dinner today?"

"Besides the usual fruit and berries; meat…? You should know this, you had dinner moments ago. Are you, perhaps, allergic to something?"

The Grovyle grew impatient. His heart-rate slowly accelerating, he demanded: "Meat from what?"

"Bird meat. From a Taillow, I heard."

Bird meat. It took a while to register, but the meaning hit like a physical blow. He shuddered and almost retched. Staggering to the wall for support, he doubled over, his breath coming ragged gasps. He felt sick. His vision dimming a bit, the last thing he saw before stumbling weakly up the stairs was Manectric's red eyes glaring at him watchfully.

But he was beyond stealth, beyond being secretive; it took all he had to crawl to his bed and not to throw up and yell in disgust.

And then, as he calmed himself down, tears welling in his eyes, one thought plagued his mind:

i'_The Taillow was right…'_/i


	7. Mt Raven I

**6.**

'_The Taillow was right… So she's probably right about the other things, too... Someone in the guild's a criminal, and somehow they make sure nobody finds the truth. And if someone does, then…_' He grimaced, curling up over his upset stomach. He couldn't stand the thought. He couldn't believe he had eaten pieces of the Pokémon he'd been assigned to save earlier today. It was too sickening to even think about.

'_Maybe it was a different Taillow_,' a weak voice vainly reassured. But there was no question to him whether the meat was from the Taillow or not. The question was, who was going to be next, and could it be stopped? With increasing fright, he realized how suspicious he must have looked back at the table.

'_What if the criminal already knows that I know? …Even if they don't, what will I do? I'll have to lie to everyone; I'll always have to watch my back; what I do and what I say… Urgh… Why is this happening? I never even wanted to join this guild in the first place._'

He sighed and rubbed his eyes, proceeding to look out the window, wishing he were away from the guild; someplace calm and peaceful. '_I shouldn't be here; I'm not meant to be an explorer…_'

_'The fact is that you are here, in this place and situation, and you can't run away from it,'_ a new, foreign voice in his head declared, _'so do something about it.'_

He looked up in surprise but shook his head at what the voice had said. '_What can I do? I can't ask around; anyone could be the criminal. I have to keep to myself, pretending that I enjoy living here. Otherwise they'll start asking questions._'

'_Look for the culprit. Once you find them, you can get everyone else's help._'

'_What about the spies? What if they find out I started talking… What if they kill me and everyone I tell? I don't want to be responsible for the deaths of the few friends I have…_'

The voice didn't reply; instead, the sound of approaching footsteps caught the Grovyle's attention. Panicking, he repositioned himself in hopes of appearing casual, ending up lying down and glaring at the ceiling with his hands locked behind his head.

The footsteps revealed themselves to be those of Aurealis, who poked his head into the room. Grovyle regarded him with a slight relief, but it evaporated when the Lucario walked in and interrogated, "What was that, at dinner? You acted very strangely, and you looked sick…. What's going on?"

"Uh, I… I..." Then his words abandoned him. He saw the Lucario's demanding glare and felt it pierce him like daggers.

'_Say something!_'the voice in his mind screamed, _'Anything! Change the subject!_'

"I-I'm mad, and disgusted!" he finally stammered, raising his voice and doing his best to return the stare, "Why did you make fun of me like that? I'm trying to learn all these new things, and you're just mocking me in front of everyone!"

Aurealis blinked twice, slumped onto his bed and simply stared. "You're right," the Lucario finally muttered, averting his eyes to the ground, "I did get carried away… I'm sorry; I honestly don't know what came over me."

Grovyle relaxed with a loud sigh, letting his head fall onto the soft hay. "It's fine..." He didn't really care about the apology at all, or how peculiar the Lucario's mood change was. What was important was that the question was over and that he was safe.

Meanwhile, Aurealis sprawled out on his bed, taking off his Crimson Band in the process, and stared motionlessly at the ceiling. Grovyle, seeing this, realized that he also still had his own band on, so he untied it and threw it in the direction of their treasure bag, which lay between their beds. He felt a strange dizziness after doing so, but it was quickly washed away by other thoughts.

Aurealis fidgeted. "I'm also sorry for acting the way I did on our mission. Especially the part where I hit you. I shouldn't have done that. I swear by Arceus, I don't know why I did."

"It doesn't matter…"

"Are you sure? …Well… If you say so..."

Just when Grovyle thought this horribly awkward conversation would be over and he could be left to his thoughts, the Lucario said, "You know, I've been thinking of what to nickname you – I think you shouldn't be referred to as Grovyle." The grass type didn't even move in response, so Aurealis continued, "I think I've found one, but I'm not sure yet…"

"That's nice…"

"Do you want to know what it is?"

"Sure…"

"It's simply Loran, after the forest I found you in."Aurealis looked from the ceiling at the Grovyle, who in turn tried to ignore it by looking away.

"Maybe."

"Then how about Lorean?"

"Maybe."

"Lore?"

Grovyle shifted. Something about that name rang a bell, but he had no idea what. Regardless, he desperately wanted to end the conversation, so he yawned and concluded, "I need time to think about it…"

"Sure," the Lucario responded, turning back and closing his eyes. "It's pretty late; we should get some sleep."

"Yeah," the grass type muttered, although he knew sleep was probably out of the question.

"Good night," Aurealis whispered.

Grovyle couldn't force himself to reply. Instead, he let his head drop back onto the straw with an internal sigh. This was going to be a long night, he knew, as thoughts and questions plagued his mind. Who was the criminal, who were the spies, and how in Palkia's name had they not been discovered yet?

Well, one thing was for certain – he would have to act as if today never happened. At the same time, he'd have to get help from someone. After all, how could he carry this burden by himself, especially when he was apparently dealing with professionals? He wasn't experienced, he didn't know how to defend himself properly, and he probably wasn't a good liar, either. Just this conversation he had with Aurealis was a disaster.

But what if he did tell someone? What if he was followed by the spies and caught saying the truth? Would he really risk that, and the death punishment that would follow? …No he wouldn't – he couldn't. He was alone on this.

The ceiling suddenly disappeared from sight as the room was flooded with darkness. The torches had been extinguished, leaving Grovyle only to himself.

* * *

A loud chirp from outside yanked Grovyle from his half-sleep. Moaning, he rubbed his eyes and tried to open them, but it was as if they were glued shut. Sitting up groggily, he finally managed to get his bearings. The sun still wasn't up and Aurealis was still sleeping soundly. It was early.

He fell back onto his bed, too tired to remain upright. '_I should just go back to sleep…'_

And he would have done so, if only the gravity of his predicament hadn't suddenly resurfaced in his memory. With a slight growl, he clenched his fist. _'Why me? Why do I have to be the one to suffer? Why did I ever join this Arceus forsaken guild?'_

He sat up and glared at Aurealis in rage. '_It's because of _you_! If it weren't for you and your ridiculous 'mystery dungeon' Muksludge, I wouldn't be here! If it weren't for you, I'd be… I'd be… dead…'_

His shoulders slumped as the fury left him. '_I can't believe I just said that…' _Holding his head in his claws, the initial anger was suddenly replaced by despair. '_I'm losing myself… This is me becoming insane. And it's just been one day! It can't be much longer 'til I do something stupid, like run away or try to attack someone in rage… I'm never going to have a normal life, am I?'_

He sighed and shut the thoughts out of his mind. They were only going to make him feel worse. With a yawn, he reclined back the bed, but the hay didn't seem to provide any warmth or comfort anymore. After lying there motionlessly for several minutes, he decided to get up.

Grunting, he forced himself to his feet, although he felt quite unsteady and tired. Doing his best to ignore it, he shambled out the room and down the corridor until he arrived in the main hall, which was silent and completely empty, making it easier to pass through.

After arduously climbing up the stairs, he sat on the ground for a breather, but found himself staring into the face of sentry Sentret, who was regarding him oddly.

"Um, Grovyle? What are you doing?" Sentret asked, helping the gecko to his feet.

"Sorry, I… didn't get any sleep," the grass type mumbled in response, doing his best not to fall over again.

"Ah, I know how you feel. I used to feel exactly the same way when I was first hired as a sentry. But now I barely have to sleep at all. …So, you're going to the lake, right?"

"Yeah…"

"Of course you are. There's nothing like cold water to wake you up. Anyway, there's a side path that leads down to it. It starts right down there. It's a bit steep, so be careful not to fall."

"Okay, thanks," Grovyle replied, trudging down the gravel path Sentret had indicated. The decline of the hill made him want to lean forward and let himself fall into the hands of gravity, but he did his best to stay alert.

After a long, absentminded descent, he finally found himself at the lake, and immediately dove into it. He let himself be suspended in the refreshing water until he felt the need to resurface.

That was when his mind clicked. '_I don't know how to swim, do I?'_ He flailed his arms in an attempt to disprove this, but it only made him sink deeper. Feeling lightheaded now, panic began to overwhelm as his lungs screamed for air. Turning around sluggishly in the water, he reached out and pulled himself up to a protruding rock, from which he managed to claw his way up to the shore.

Flopping onto the grass, he coughed and took in lungfuls of air. '_Damn, Grovyle! You just nearly drowned!'_ Trying to ease his panting, he crawled over to a tree and leaned back on it.

Exhaling deeply, he shivered as the rush of the moment left him and the cold air chilled his wet hide. '_Well_,' he thought, his teeth clattering and his arms wrapped around himself, '_At least I'm awake now… But it's so cold…_'

Just as he finished that thought, the first faintest streak of orange crept up from the gloomy horizon and illuminated the sky. '_Sunrise…_'

The tip of the sun appeared and with it came a wave of warmth that completely washed away his cold. He couldn't help but close is eyes and smile in contentment as the sun rose higher and grew warmer.

Following some subconscious urge, he moved away from the tree and stretched out prostrate on the grass, letting the sun warm all the leaves on his body. To anyone else it might have looked awkward, but to him, it was the most blissful feeling he'd felt so far. Yet he didn't know why. It had to be a Grovyle thing. Either way, it felt wonderful, and he didn't want it to stop.

"Wake up call!" Manectric's voice boomed from inside the guild.

Grovyle swore in annoyance, rolled over, and sat up. '_Ugh_,' he thought angrily, '_Can I never get a break? I was just beginning to get comfortable… Stupid wakeup call… How the hell did I sleep through that yesterday, anyway? I can hear him all the way out here…'_

'_Well, I have to get back…_' He shook his head and looked down anxiously. He didn't want to leave. He felt as though he was safe only as long as he stayed there on the grass.

'_Listen, this isn't going to be as bad as you think,_' his optimistic side persisted,_ '__I know you're scared about it, but maybe if you try take your mind off it… I know! You can trust Aurealis, right? Try to hang around him. Talk to him and concentrate on your missions. That should help.'_

'_But I can't just keep trying to ignore it! Sooner or later, I'll have to do something about this…_'

'_Don't worry about that now! Right now, you should go back. The announcements will start soon and if you're late, Aurealis will be mad.'_

Mumbling something better left unsaid, Grovyle stood up and headed back up the gravel path. The way up was significantly more tiring than the descent, but in spite of that he made it back to the entrance in no time. Acknowledging Sentret with a nod, he looked at the sky one last time before stepping inside.

"Well, here goes," he declared to himself, entering the main hall. At a glance, he could tell he wasn't late – although a fair semicircle of Pokémon was already surrounding Mismagius' door, she still wasn't out. Looking through the crowd, he could see Zero and Dexter, a Swellow, Ivysaur, Poliwhirl, Donphan, Grumpig, Raichu, Marowak, Primeape, Bellossom, Shelgon, and- Aurealis. Recognizing him, Grovyle made his way over to him, exchanging a couple greetings along the way.

"Morning," Grovyle said, tapping Aurealis on the shoulder while trying to put on a smile.

The Lucario's ears perked up and he turned to the grass type. "Hi. You were up early. I was surprised."

The grass type shrugged, buying himself a brief moment to think of his words beforehand. "Well, I happened to wake up early, and I didn't have any strange nightmares."

"Really?" Aurealis tested, examining Grovyle's expression. After a few seconds, a sly grin grew on the Lucario's face. "Don't tell me anything else. From your slightly sluggish mannerisms, I say that last night, you barely slept at all. Thus, when you awoke before I did, you went to the lake to regain your senses. Afterwards, you basked in the sun until the wakeup call."

"Wait, uh…. What?" Grovyle looked from his partner to his own claws in confusion, "You can figure all that out by how I act? But how did you know I… 'basked in the sun', whatever that means?"

"I do know some things about your species. I know that those leaves on you behave similarly to actual plants, except on a different scale. When you expose them to water and sun, they turn a slightly brighter green, and look healthier in general. In contrast, depriving yourself of sunlight and water will cause them to shrivel and eventually die."

"Oh, that's pretty cool," the gecko mused, absentmindedly fingering the leaves extending from his wrist. "Any more things you'd like to share?"

"Well, there are several things I could tell you. On the subject of the leaves, I believe I heard that amongst your kind, the longer they are, the more respect you deserve. I think this applies mostly in the wild, though. I'm not sure. Anyway, obviously, this means that cutting a leaf off is an unmatched insult and brings total humiliation to the other."

"Interesting," Grovyle remarked, privately wondering how he would compare with other Grovyle, "I didn't think these leaves mean so-"

A loud slamming sound interrupted him, and the two looked to see Mismagius and Manectric stepping out of the Guildmaster room. It was time for the morning announcements to begin.

Mismagius hovered in the center of the semicircle while Manectric, as always, sat next to her. The ghost smiled warmly and announced while gesticulated with her palms, "Good morning everyone! Today, I'm not going to keep you long; there is only one item on the list." She inhaled, and suddenly her voice was more serious. "The rogue Pokémon we mentioned yesterday has still not been identified, but the Pidgeot Police has been investigating the matter and has reason to believe that the rogue Pokémon has one accomplice, who is assumed to also be present in the village. Head of the Pidgeot Police, Aeron, told us that mystery dungeons might become more dangerous to explore from now on, which is why we advise everyone to be on their guard. Also, if anyone spots anything suspicious, we ask that you report it to myself, Manectric, or the Pidgeot Police. That is all. Oh, Grovyle and Aurealis, please come see me. Thank you for your attention."

Grovyle and Aurealis glanced at each other, wondering what it was about this time. But they didn't want to stand around in the stuffiness and the thunderous noise so the two practically ran towards the open door of the Guildmaster's chamber and jumped in, the door slamming shut behind them.

'_Phew_,' Grovyle blinked, leaning back against the door, '_I can finally hear myself think._' Regaining his composure, he noticed Aurealis holding his ears. Poor him; he probably had more sensitive hearing.

"Good morning you two," chirped Mismagius, floating a little closer to them. "I apologize for the noise out there; it can become nearly deafening at times. Not to worry, it subsides pretty soon."

"That's all right," the Lucario replied, recovering his expressionless face, "What did you want to see us about?"

"I merely wanted to tell you that today, you should try an outlaw mission. As you might have learned by now, this guild also helps in apprehending outlaws. Of course, like with ordinary missions, they are ranked from E, the easiest, to 9 stars, the hardest."

Grovyle nodded along, absorbing only how much he needed to. His partner seemed more intrigued, though: "How do we bring them in?"

"Oh, that's the hard part. First you have to find them, and then, unless the outlaw is willing to go willingly, you have to defeat them. After they are knocked out, you can use your badges to transport them back to the entrance, like you most likely did on your first mission yesterday. From there, you have to physically carry them to the guild."

"I see," Aurealis simply responded, rubbing his palms together as if knocking someone senseless was a pastime to look forward to.

Grovyle noticed and frowned. He'd hoped the missions would be easy for him, but apparently he was wrong. He'd be utterly useless in a battle with a criminal, and he'd probably only get in Aurealis' way.

As if reading his thoughts, Mismagius stared at the grass type for a while and then reassured, "Don't worry Grovyle, like any other missions, these are classified by difficulty. So, if you pick an E mission, which you should, the outlaw will be relatively weak and the time limit will be more than sufficient."

"Hold on," Grovyle put in dryly, "Time limit? We have a time limit?"

Aurealis decided to answer. "Well, of course. You can't expect the outlaw to hang around in one place all day, so on the mission paper, it is written approximately how long the outlaw will be in a given location. After that, it's up to the police to track them down…"

The gecko looked from the Lucario to the Guildmaster, who nodded her head approvingly. '_Oh, great_,' he sighed to himself, '_more pressure_.'

"Also, just a heads up," the ghost added, "sometimes, the criminal may try to claim he is innocent, or otherwise trick you into hesitating. Do not listen to what the criminal says, as it is most often misleading. Now… I suggest you get going. The sooner you choose a mission, the more time you have for it. Also, make sure you are adequately prepared; outlaw missions tend to be more demanding in general."

"We will, and thanks for the warning." With that, Aurealis turned to leave, the smile on his face making it clear he was eager to begin.

"Good luck," the ghost cheered, waving at them as they headed out the opened door.

'_I'll need it_,' Grovyle thought glumly, the door slamming shut behind them.

* * *

The massive billboard was still surrounded by flocks of Pokémon, but Grovyle and Aurealis managed to push their way to it and grab the first E-ranked outlaw mission they could find. They then fled up the stairs and finally emerged outside.

"They really need to make the hall bigger," Grovyle huffed, talking to no one in particular.

"Yeah," Aurealis panted, still covering his ears, "Anyway…" He unfolded the mission paper he had grabbed and read it out loud. "This is what the mission letter is: _Dear explorers, while near Mt. Raven, I was mugged by a Nuzleaf, who stole my items and ran. He fled up the mountain, but it's a mystery dungeon; I'm too weak to go in there. Please, will somebody help_?"

The Lucario paused for a breath. "So, the dungeon is Mt. Raven, the outlaw is a Nuzleaf, and the time limit is approximately three hours. Now, Mt. Raven is, if I recall correctly, slightly farther out than Tremolo Cave. It should take us about twenty minutes to get there. So, if we set out in fifteen minutes-"

"Oh, no," Grovyle suddenly exclaimed, hitting his forehead with his palm, "We forgot the bag in the room."

"I'm not going back in there," the Lucario riposted matter-of-factly.

"All right, all right," the grass type growled.

He turned back to the guild and plodded down the stairs, the intolerable roar of the crowd ready to greet him. Luckily, the sea of Pokémon was mostly concentrated at the bulletin, so by sticking to the walls, he made it to the rooms quickly. Afterwards, he walked to the end of the corridor, which was welcomingly more silent.

Having entered his room, he stopped for a moment to think. '_Well, this really isn't as bad as I thought it would be. No one seems suspicious so far…_' He picked up the bag, briefly checked whether the badge was in it, and slung it across his unburned shoulder. '_Whoever the criminal is, they do a good job at disguising themselves… Well, I guess now I should focus on the mission. Maybe, being with Aurealis, I can learn some things to help me – unless he behaves like yesterday. Either way, I should get going now. I can think of what to do later. Mismagius mentioned Pidgeot Police; maybe I could sneak out and talk to them._'

Shaking his head, he ran out the room and through the hall, using the same strategy as before to avoid being consumed by the crowd, which was now finally beginning to dissipate.

When the grass type stepped outside, he saw his partner waiting by the path, tapping his foot impatiently. "We don't have all day, you know," he reprimanded, "As a matter of fact, we have less than three hours."

"Geez, sorry," Grovyle shrugged, handing his partner the bag, since he was probably more qualified to hold it, "I got stuck in the crowd."

"Never mind that. We should stop wasting time and get going."

"But… What about getting ready? We barely have anything in the bag… Nothing except for the badge, actually."

"There's no time. We might find some things in the dungeon, but we'd be wasting time if we went to the market."

"But we have three hours-"

Aurealis only response was to start walking. Grovyle rolled his eyes and followed him.


	8. Mt Raven II

"Here we are, Mt. Raven at last," Aurealis announced, stopping and inhaling the fresh, mountain air. He smiled and swished his tail in anticipation. Then he turned back and impatiently faced a large, ruffling bush. "Grovyle?"

"Huh?" Grovyle stumbled out from the bush, proceeding to dust a few leaves off him. On the way, they'd gotten lost and were forced to travel through the wild, which included overgrown forests such as the one they had just exited. "Are we finally there?"

"You didn't hear what I just said?"

The grass type ran up to him and eyed the mountain. It didn't look very tall, and it certainly didn't look like any normal mountain Grovyle could have imagined. He thought there would be at least a few trees, but no – there was only bluish gray plateaus, cliffs, and labyrinthine structures of rock all around. Noticing this, he demanded, "How are we supposed to find that Nuzleaf In there? There are so many places where he could hide."

"Nope, we just have to keep going up until we see any sign of him."

"But can't he just hide on the first floor for a while?"

"There's another thing I didn't tell you about mystery dungeons. You can't stay in one floor for too long. Remember, mystery dungeons keep changing, even when you're in them. The longer you stay on one floor, the greater the chance that you get trapped in a dead end. If you're extremely unlucky, you might even be flattened by compressing walls."

Grovyle took a moment to digest this, and then scowled. "Are you serious? Why didn't anyone tell me this before? Doesn't _anyone_ think that it's a little important for me to know that every moment we spend up there, the higher our chances of never getting out again?"

Aurealis shrugged and pointed at the gecko. "_That's_ why. Nobody wants you to panic. And there really is no reason to; the chances of that happening are slim to none. Besides, we don't spend that long on one floor. We'd have to be there for at least half an hour for there to be even the smallest threat."

The grass type let out a slight growl and waved his hand dismissively. "Fine, I have no choice but to believe that. Are there any more brilliant things that you want to hide from me?"

"If I told you, they wouldn't be hidden, now would they?"

"Great… just great… Now, how much time do we have left?"

"A tad more than two hours, I think."

"Fine. Let's get this over with."

* * *

And so the two set off, the grass under their feet changing to rock as they began climbing the mountain. The dungeon itself was fairly simple; it was much easier to navigate through than Tremolo Cave thanks to the sunlight. Not only that, there seemed to be no residents around.

That, Grovyle decided, was probably for the better. He didn't want to end up in another embarrassing situation like yesterday. On the other hand, he had to learn how to stand up and fight sooner or later. Preferably sooner, given his current predicament.

Regardless of what he thought, he was brought out of his world when Aurealis held him back with a paw.

"Look there," the Lucario whispered, pointing at an apparently normal, flat rock lying inconspicuously a meter or two in front of them. It was almost indistinguishable from the ground itself. "That's a Geodude."

Grovyle relaxed with a sigh, having thought something important was happening. He waved away Aurealis' outstretched paw and kept walking. "You don't need to tell me the names of different kinds of rocks, Aurealis. We have more important things to worry about." With that, the gecko took a few steps forward, stepping on the rock, but walked back when Aurealis wasn't following. "Why are you standing over there? Let's go."

The Lucario only pointed in Grovyle's direction with an innocent smirk that could only mean trouble. Grovyle turned around rigidly to find that what he had assumed to be a rock was now suddenly a live creature with an earthen face, hovering in the air and swinging its large fists through the air. It roared gruffly and glared at Grovyle in such a murderous way it chilled him to the core.

"Uh, Au-Aurealis," he stammered, shrunk back from the initial shock, "Wha-what is that?"

The Lucario only smiled. "That, as I said, is a Geodude. I was _going_ to tell you not to step on it because they get extremely mad and aggressive when you do."

"Well, wh-why didn't you just say-"

The Geodude huffed and shot forward abruptly, swinging its arm in for a side punch. Grovyle let out a shriek and inched back at just the right moment, letting the Geodude's fist whiz past his face.

Instinctively, he pulled back his arm and punched back. That wasn't a good idea. His claws were crushed with an audible crack upon hitting the Geodude's rock-solid body, causing the poor gecko to cry out and grip his wrist, the claws numb with pain.

Then something hit his jaw hard, breaking his balance and sending him reeling backwards. He tripped and fell, his head knocking against the ground, and his senses dimmed…

"Grovyle? …Grovyle, you okay?"

"Urgh…" The grass type opened his eyes slowly to see nothing but rocks and sky. He tried to sit up but as he did so, his head pounded and felt too heavy to bear. He groaned and raised his right arm to rub his forehead, but the moment he did, a sharp pain shot through his wrist. "Oww."

"Good, I was beginning to fear you'd fall unconscious."

Grovyle turned his head and saw Aurealis kneeling next to him. The Lucario offered a paw, and Grovyle stared at it for a moment before grabbing it with his healthy claws. The Lucario proceeded to help him to his feet.

It took a while for him to steady himself; not only did he feel weak in the knees, but there was that darn headache, and the pain in his arm... Unable to think clearly, he tried to put together what had happened. "I was almost knocked out by that Geodude… wasn't I?"

Aurealis frowned and looked over the gecko once more. "Yes, almost. Luckily you were only dazed."

"_Only_ dazed? I have a bad headache and for some reason I can't move my right wrist, and it hurts when I touch it." To demonstrate, he gently flicked his right wrist and winced at the pain that followed.

Then, suddenly, he remembered how he had gotten in that fight with the Geodude, and, his temper flaring, jabbed an accusing claw at Aurealis. "Wait a minute…! What were you doing while I was being pummeled? You were just standing there with your stupid smile! You didn't even _try_ to stop that Geodude when it attacked me! So, what, is it _entertaining_ for you to make fun of me?"

Noting his partner's impending hostility, Aurealis rubbed his neck nervously and lowered his head apologetically. "I… I'm sorry, I didn't mean-"

"Shut it, Aurealis," Grovyle fumed, storming off in a random direction, "You used that excuse yesterday."

With that, the gecko left him to stand there. As he calmed, Grovyle couldn't help but wonder what happened to the seemingly loyal and friendly Lucario that had saved him from the Mightyena ambush. Didn't that episode mean anything in their young friendship? Apparently not – ever since they started going on missions, Aurealis behaved differently. He was more aggressive and malicious now, in contrast with the timid but determined Pokémon he used to be.

And there was something suspicious about that change. Grovyle didn't know many things, but he was pretty sure it isn't natural for a Pokémon's personality to change so quickly. There had to be a reason for the Lucario's mood swings… Agh. It hurt to think so much.

"Um, Grovyle!" a voice behind him called, "The stairs are over here!"

The gecko sighed and turned around slowly. He saw Aurealis standing at the mouth of a hallway that sloped sharply upwards; the stairs. This was another concept Grovyle didn't fully understand. As Aurealis had put it, the floors of dungeons had to be connected _somehow_, otherwise they would create several different and inaccessible caves. And this 'somehow' was 'stairs', or hallways that are immune to the rest of the dungeon's metamorphosis, whatever that word meant.

The grass type walked past his partner and into the hallway, not even bothering to look at him. Aurealis followed him in sullen silence.

"How much time do we have left?" Grovyle asked flatly, no emotion detectable to Aurealis' ears or aura sensors. Despite this, the Lucario knew he was still angry. "About an hour and half… Listen, Grovyle, I'm sorry-"

"Forget it."

"But, your hand-"

"I said forget it, Aurealis. Let's get this mission over with.

* * *

They pressed on through the dungeon, encountering little resistance on the way. By the time the sun high in the sky, the two were on the seventh floor, and there they found their first clue as to where the Nuzleaf was. The clue was an apparently extinguished fire, still warm – that meant that the Nuzleaf couldn't be far ahead.

In spite of this breakthrough, the air was still slightly thin between the Lucario and Grovyle. Neither of them uttered a word since the Geodude incident. The only thing that did change was that Aurealis recovered from his sulkiness and reasserted his role as the unofficial leader. So it was Grovyle who tagged behind while the Lucario walked ahead.

This gave the gecko an opportunity to secretly study him and any involuntary gestures that could reveal an unusual emotion. But, much to Grovyle's dismay, there were none other than the occasional flick of the tail. The Lucario was like a machine, walking with graceful, measured steps, never faltering for an instant. If only Grovyle could see what was going on in his head…

The Lucario stopped suddenly, his aura sensors hovering into the air and glowing slightly with a translucent blue. Grovyle watched with curiosity but quickly looked down when Aurealis turned to address him.

"I can sense the Nuzleaf's aura," he noted, nodding his head in the direction of the adjacent hallway, "He should be down there."

Grovyle only nodded, trying not to show any emotion. Inside, he was increasingly anxious about meeting their first outlaw; what if things went wrong, or Aurealis tried another dirty stunt like he did with the Geodude? The grass type's hand still hurt from that, and he grew increasingly tired and hungry. He wasn't sure if he could take much more.

Aurealis seemed to read him like a book. "Don't worry, Grovyle, I'll do all the fighting. This is an E rank mission, so it should only be a while. We can return to the guild afterwards."

With that, the Lucario slipped into the hallway stealthily, his footsteps light and inaudible. Grovyle couldn't help but watch in awe for a few moments before running after him. However, he was promptly halted by the Lucario's paw.

"Wait, I just realized that if we approach the Nuzleaf directly, he'll probably run, and that won't be very good for us. Which is why, Grovyle, I need you to do something for me."

The gecko gulped. Something told him he wasn't going to like it.

"I need you to be the one to approach the Nuzleaf and buy me enough time to get around him and ambush him from behind."

Grovyle blinked and rubbed his temples with a sigh. "Aurealis, what, exactly, in our history together makes you think I'm capable of doing something like that?"

"Come on, have a little faith in yourself, Grovyle," the Lucario persisted, looking back towards the room in which the Nuzleaf supposedly was impatiently, "Try to grab his attention somehow; it will only take about a minute before I run around the room and enter it through the back hall. All right? Can you do that?"

"But wait," Grovyle moaned in protest, "why can't you be the one to distract him?"

"Because, frankly, I'm more intimidating than you are. Besides, if I'm the one who sneaks up on him, I can end it quickly."

"Oh, all right! But you owe me for this…"

Aurealis patted him once on the shoulder and flashed a brief smile before running off. Grovyle groaned and edged closer to the end of the hall. That smile worried him. '_Arceus_,' he moaned, '_Why do I keep getting into unpleasant situations? This'd better not be another prank…_'

With that, he entered the room awkwardly, and immediately noticed the Nuzleaf – a brown and beige humanoid Pokémon with a small leaf atop its head – resting against a large rock and rummaging inside a small, probably stolen bag.

"Ahem," the gecko coughed nervously, prompting the Nuzleaf to bolt to his feet in surprise.

He quickly regained his composure and growled, "Who the hell are you?"

Grovyle inched back a bit, not expecting such a fierce tone. "Um, I… My wrist hurts, I was, uh, wondering if you had an Oran berry, or… something." He scowled. '_That was lame._'

"You've got to be kidding," the Nuzleaf scoffed, taking a step forward and raising a clenched fist, "I don't have an Oran Berry, or the time to waste on pathetic wimps like you! Get outta here."

"Yes sir, I-I would love to, bu-but I-"

"Shut up and scram! Or do I need to _drag_ you out?"

Grovyle gulped, starting to sweat a bit. He could tell the Nuzleaf was serious. '_Damn it Aurealis, your one minute's up! Where the hell are you? If you don't show up right now, I'm dead!_'

"All right," the Nuzleaf sighed, cracking his knuckles and closing in on the despairing gecko, "dragging it is."

"Wait-wait-wait!" he cried, raising his palms in submission. "Please don't hurt me. I just need to keep buying some time, all right? Just… just… calm down and keep talking."

The Nuzleaf raised a brow and looked at him as if he were crazy. Maybe that was true, maybe not. "Okay dude, I don't know what your problem is, but I've had about enough of you. This is the last warning. Get out of here before things get ugly."

Grovyle mumbled something under his breath and inhaled deeply. What he was about to say would probably warrant him a broken nose. "Look, Arceus is behind you!"

The Nuzleaf growled and pulled his arm back to punch. Grovyle shut his eyes and braced himself for the blow, but it never came. Instead, he heard the Nuzleaf scream as something suddenly exploded in front of his face.

The gecko yelped and opened his eyes to see what happened, but all he could see was smoke, and it made his eyes teary. Coughing, he waved it away enough to notice the Nuzleaf's limp body lying in front of him.

"I'd say that was adequately timed," a familiar voice remarked. Promptly, Aurealis jumped out from the smoke and landed next to Grovyle.

"A little sooner would have been appreciated," huffed the grass type, trying to look unfazed, though his wide eyes gave him away. His curiosity getting the better of him, he looked from the Nuzleaf to the Lucario and asked, "What was that, anyway?"

"A rather powerful Aura Sphere," Aurealis smirked in response, kneeling next to the corpse and checking whether it was really unconscious, "Since Nuzleaf are both grass and dark types, and thus are weak to fighting type moves, it was enough to knock him out."

Grovyle couldn't help but stare at the Lucario in awe. '_Wow, he's strong… I wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of one of his attacks…_'

"Anyway," the Lucario announced, standing back up, "the mysterious forces of the dungeon will soon act, and the Nuzleaf will disappear. That means it's time for us to use the badge."

Earning a nod from Grovyle, Aurealis fished out the badge from the bag and raised it into the air. The three were enveloped in a bright yellow light, and then they were gone.

"Finally, we're out!" the grass type hollered after they reappeared on the familiar clearing next to the foot of the mountain. He smiled at the welcome change of grass under his feet. He always felt better when standing on grass; that must have been another Grovyle thing.

"Right, now there's just the trip back," reminded Aurealis, picking up the Nuzleaf and starting to walk in the direction of Magnolia Village, with Grovyle following behind.

The two had already walked about fifteen minutes before the Nuzleaf began to shuffle in Aurealis' arms and regain his senses.

"Hello there, criminal," Aurealis acknowledged curtly, "In case you wonder what's happening, we're bringing you in."

The Nuzleaf mumbled an expletive under his breath and moaned in pain. He looked around to get his bearings but didn't notice anything recognizable other than a Grovyle walking close behind. He shook his head and couldn't help but chuckle in self-pity. "I can't believe I fell for your damn act. So there, I'm kidnapped. You happy? Can you at least tell me what the Muk is going on?"

"You don't get it yet?" Grovyle shrugged, trying to appear composed, "As he said, we're bringing you in."

"What the hell for?"

"Don't play innocent! You're a criminal, wanted for petty theft!"

At this, the Nuzleaf faltered. He twisted his neck to notice the signature badge pinned on the bag Aurealis was carrying. Finally realizing his predicament, he groaned. "You guys are an exploration team, aren't you…? Well damn! Why didn't you say so?"

"Took you long enough to figure out," Aurealis mused.

"What guild do you work for?" the Nuzleaf pressed.

"Be quiet. You'll find out what guild when we get there."

Grovyle, however, was intrigued. Maybe, like the Taillow, this Pokémon knew something about Mismagius Guild! "Mismagius Guild. Do you know anything about it?"

The Nuzleaf examined the gecko shortly. "Hmm, not much. I just hear they're a bunch of crazies."

"Hey," Aurealis growled, glaring at the Pokémon he was carrying, "Mismagius Guild is a wonderful place. I've dreamt about it even as a Riolu, and it's lived up to my dreams. Do not insult it."

"Whatever you say," the Nuzleaf scoffed, rolling his eyes.

Grovyle's shoulders slumped slightly in disappointment. It seemed as though the Taillow was the only one who knew something about the guild's secret, but… she was dead. The thought sickened him, and he shook his head vigorously to dispel it. Well, it looked like he was still on square one, and would probably stay there for a long time. Maybe he'd meet another informed Pokémon on future missions…

Speaking of missions, the one he was doing now was drawing to a close as they passed the village wall and progressed through Magnolia square, towards the guild. Thank Arceus – hiking up that mountain left his feet pretty sore; he still wasn't used to walking so much. Not to mention, of course, he now had a light purple bruise on his chin, his head ached, and his right wrist was swollen and hurt pretty bad. The sooner they got back to the guild, the sooner he could visit that wonderful Bellossom and get some sleep.

However, he was forced to wonder – if he was getting this beat up after an E rank mission, how in the world would he fare in tougher situations?

"Aurealis and Grovyle, Aurealis and Grovyle, Aurealis and Grovyle!" announced sentry Sentret, standing on his tail and surveying the approaching three with a soft gaze.

The Nuzleaf grumbled, realizing that he was going to be arrested, and would either be jailed or given a long time of community service. In the end, he probably deserved it…

In spite of the few setbacks they encountered during their mission, they were back relatively early, so the hallway was nearly desolate. It seemed almost eerie, how spacious and empty it was. Nevertheless, it made the walk to Mismagius' door that much easier. However, as they neared the door, they noticed a Pidgeotto standing motionlessly next to it. The bird eyed them intently and flew over to them.

"Are you team AuraBlade?"

Grovyle and Aurealis shared an uncertain glance before the Lucario answered, "Yes, we are. Who are you?"

"Oh, excuse me," the Pidgeotto faltered, but quickly regained a professional voice, "My name is Zeph; I work for the Pidgeot Police. I heard from Mismagius that you two brought D'aron, a criminal Nuzleaf, in for arrest. Is this him?" He tilted his head towards the Nuzleaf questioningly.

"As far as we know, yeah," Grovyle shrugged, "He never told us his name…"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm D'aron," the Nuzleaf cut in, crossing his arms snorting angrily, "Just take me away and get it over with."

Zeph flashed a smirk before turning to the two AuraBladers. He then dug inside a pouch slung across his neck and took out two golden coins with his beak. Aurealis extended a paw and Zeph dropped the coins into it.

"Those are two 600 Poké coins as appreciation of your efforts. If you don't mind, I will now take this Nuzleaf to the Cliffside Correction Center. Perhaps we shall meet again."

"Hah," D'aron scoffed, "You hear that? 'Correction Center'. Pfft."

Zeph rolled his eyes, clamped down on the protesting Nuzleaf's head leaf, and forcefully pushed him to start walking. D'aron wasn't very happy about that and starting growling and flailing around, but this didn't slow Zeph, and soon they disappeared up the stairs, leaving Grovyle and Aurealis in silence.

"Well, that's that," mused the Lucario with a sigh.

"Uh, yeah… But what's this Cliffside Correction Center?"

"That's the only prison in this area."

"Oh…" With that, Grovyle shuffled awkwardly and eyed his swollen hand. "Well, if that's all, I guess I'm going to get my wrist looked at."

"Okay, sure. See you later then."

"Yeah." The grass type gave him a last smile and wave before turning towards the infirmary.

There were no doors to it, so Grovyle just walked in. However, the room was completely empty and looked almost abandoned, leaving him puzzled for a moment before he noticed the bell next to the door.

'_I'm supposed to ring that…?_' he wondered, deciding for a moment before timidly poking the bell with a claw. It rung with a soothing yet surprisingly loud chime, but other than that, nothing seemed to happen.

"Hiya!"

Grovyle yelped with a start, wheeling around to the voice behind him. He came face to face with a beaming Bellossom.

"Oh," she giggled, blushing and covering her mouth like a child, "I didn't mean to scare you."

"Uh, that's alright," Grovyle replied, blushing as well and rubbing the back of his neck embarrassedly.

An awkward silence followed, but the Bellossom soon broke it, "You wanted to see me about something?"

"Right, yeah. Well, my arm hurts quite a lot, and I was wondering if you had anything to ease the pain."

"Hold on, let me see your arm."

Grovyle nodded and raised his right arm and claws, wincing slightly as the motion sent a pang of pain through his wrist. The Bellossom, noticing it, skipped over to him and examined the wrist. It was swollen and was starting to turn a slightly purplish hue. The Bellossom frowned (that was a first) and gently flexed it upwards, prompting an agonized hiss out of the gecko.

"Hmm, your wrist looks broken," she evaluated, letting go of his arm and walking to one of the shelves.

"Broken?" Grovyle repeated, glancing at his wrist worriedly, "What does that mean? Is it bad?"

The Bellossom turned briefly to give him a reassuring smile before searching for something in the shelves. "It means that you've cracked a bone," she explained in simple terms. She reached up and grabbed a small jar full with tiny, yellow seeds. "But don't worry! With one of these and some rest, it should be better in a few days."

"What are those?" asked Grovyle, his curiosity piqued by the jar she was holding.

"These are called Reviver Seeds," she chirped, her cheeriness apparently returning as she reached into the jar and pulled out a seed. "Although they're so small, they have a very powerful healing effect. They speed up healing processes and dull any pain."

"Oh, wow," he mused, getting anxious to eat one of those things.

"It does _not_ get rid of the problem right away, though. If you don't rest properly, the damage could worsen. So, for the best recovery, I'll bandage your wrist, and you should rest for a few days."

"Okay, I understand." '_Though I don't think Aurealis is going to like this… And this doesn't put me in a good situation, either. I wanted to investigate this place, but it's too dangerous with a broken wrist, and she said I should rest… Well, at least I'll have time to think about things…_'

"Here you go then," the Bellossom smiled, handing the seed to the Grovyle. Since there was nothing much to notice about it, he threw it into his mouth and rolled it around on his tongue, waiting for some sort of taste. It only left a faintly brackish taste on his tongue, however, so, with a slight disappointment, he swallowed it.

The Bellossom nodded approvingly and hopped back to the shelf, this time revealing a roll of a thick, white fabric. Before Grovyle could ask what it was, she started wrapping around the swollen wrist, evoking a faint but continuous ache as she did so. The gecko could only wince and watch until his lower arm was entire covered with white, except for the three leaves poking out weirdly from the cloth.

"There," she chirped, finishing tying the 'cast', "That should do it! The pain will start to go away soon. Until then, I recommend that you lie down, either here or in your room. Try not to move your right arm."

"Great, thanks! I… guess I'll go now, then."

"Oh, my pleasure! I'm here to heal. If you need anything else, don't hesitate to visit. And remember; take care not to strain your arm, especially your wrist."

"Yep, got it. Bye!"

After leaving the infirmary and entering the main hall, he earned a few looks from the Pokémon that had arrived. Ignoring them, Grovyle headed straight for his bed. He sprawled out on it and yawned loudly.

"Aah, finally in bed," he sighed contentedly, letting himself relax on the soft straw. "No more walking around, no more unpleasant situations… Only peace and qui-"

"Hey, Grovyle!"

Grovyle groaned in frustration as Aurealis suddenly appeared out of the doorway and stood above him. In a slightly cranky voice, the grass type demanded, "What do you want?"

The Lucario opened his mouth to speak but his eyes fell upon Grovyle's bandaged arm and he stopped himself. "Oh, your wrist… Is it broken?"

"Yeah," Grovyle snapped, this time unable to hide his irritability. It was, after all, Aurealis' fault. And now he was disturbing his nap time.

"Sorry about that," the Lucario mumbled, lowering his head apologetically. Grovyle only rolled his eyes as if to say "forget it", so Aurealis decided to move on to what he had wanted to originally say: "Anyway, I wanted to teach you some things, namely about fighting, so you're more prepared in the future."

"Didn't you hear what I just said?" protested the grass type, "My wrist is broken! And I _just_ lied down."

"Come on," Aurealis urged, his swishing tail making it clear to Grovyle that he was intent on getting what he desired, "it's really important! You won't need to use your right arm, and it won't be tiring… Please?"

Grovyle was ready to refuse, but the Lucario's persisting gaze quickly obliterated any opposition. "All right, fine," he grumbled, getting to his feet slowly, "but it'd better be short."

Aurealis smiled and bolted out the door. Grovyle sighed and began to walk after him. '_He's abnormally eager now, and smiles way more than usual. Is that another, different mood swing? …Well, in any case, he'd better not get used to getting what he wants all the time. I ought to stand up for myself more…_'

"Grovyle, you coming?" the Lucario called, already waiting at the staircase while the gecko was only halfway through the hall.

"Be patient, sheesh!" he yelled back. Suddenly he realized how weird it was that he was the one to say that. He'd always thought that he was the impatient one, and Aurealis the patient. Did they really change that much in just a few days? No, that couldn't be possible, there had to be some sort of influence.

The thoughts were discarded as Grovyle caught up to Aurealis, only for him to run ahead again. '_Man, he's fast,_' he remarked, though he promptly noticed that he was climbing the stairs at the rate of a Slowbro, '_…or I'm just horribly slow…_'

Either way, he caught up with the Lucario who ran off again, though this time Grovyle actually wondered where he was going. He was aiming down the path that led to the lake. Curious, Grovyle quickened his pace a bit and eventually reached the spot where he'd been at in the morning. Aurealis was waiting there, leaning back on a tree and staring out at the lake.

"Why here?" Grovyle finally asked, unconsciously keeping his distance from the water.

"It's quiet here, and they say people don't come here often during this time of day."

The gecko nodded approvingly. "So, what did you want to 'teach' me?"

Suddenly regaining a serious face, Aurealis stood in front of him and began the lecture. "All right. Since you don't know any attacks, and it seems your amnesia includes the basics of fighting, I'm going to teach you a few of those essential things right now. Don't worry, it won't be physically challenging in any way."

"Um, okay," Grovyle replied awkwardly. He wasn't quite sure what to expect.

"First things first - position and posture. Both are crucial in battle, so you should know these well. Simply put, during a fight, you should never let down or open your guard. That means, as I already told you, keeping appropriate distance from your opponent. At the same time, you should also be at least vaguely familiar with your surroundings; for example, this lake over here. You wouldn't want to accidentally fall into it and drown."

"Touché."

"As for posture," Aurealis continued, "you should keep your feet apart and firmly on the ground, so as to stabilize yourself. If you stand like you are now, you could fall over when hit or even pushed, which lowers your guard." To demonstrate, he jabbed Grovyle's chest, causing him to yelp and stumble backwards. "See what I mean. And that's just a simple push."

"Okay, I get the point," Grovyle said, slightly offended by being pushed around like that. He corrected his posture as instructed so they could move on.

"Enough about that, then. Next, before you actually attack someone, you need to take in consideration type matchup and his or her skill level. As you may have realized, punching rock types is not a good idea, especially if you punch incorrectly. The same goes for some ground and steel types. Anyway, types can also give you a hint as to what kinds of attacks you'll be facing. If you were up against a Lucario, a fighting and steel type, you'd know to expect strong and proper close combat moves, and probably an Aurasphere. Likewise, if you were up against a fire Pokémon, say, Charizard, you'd probably want to keep your distance instead of recklessly charging ahead… Still with me?"

Grovyle nodded as if to say yes, but both of them knew he was having a hard time processing all that. And what in the world was a Charizard?

"All right, I suppose it's time to teach you how to actually fight. Since you're a bit crippled right now, I'm only going to teach you where you should aim, where you shouldn't, and maybe how to punch properly, depending on whether you feel up to it."

The gecko nodded again. He could tell Aurealis was an expert in this subject, or at least he looked and sounded like one. Despite the Lucario's seriousness and the usual habit of not contributing much to conversation, he certainly was an eager teacher.

"Here we go then," the Lucario began, stepping closer to Grovyle for future demonstrations. "First, you must realize that you fight for survival. That said, your goal in fighting is not to inflict as much pain as possible, but rather to end the fight as soon as you can. You can do so simply by knocking your opponent unconscious. This is where things complicate, though. Where do you think you'd instinctively hit someone if they attacked you?"

"Uh… The face?"

"That's what I thought. Unfortunately, punching the face doesn't do much other than cause pain and shed blood. The principle behind knocking someone out is that you have to get their brain to vibrate against their skull. That's what actually knocks them out. With that in mind, punching the face or forehead does not achieve that effect. Now, an area that _does_ is the side of the head."

Aurealis pointed at Grovyle's jaw and temples. Then he felt around the hinge of the grass type's jawbone, found what the specific area he was looking for, and jabbed hard. Grovyle let out a yelp when an unexpected pain shot through his head and neck.

"That was what they call a pressure point," the Lucario smirked, "this one's usually located below the ear and at the hinge of the jawbone. If hit precisely and hard enough, it's one of the places that can immobilize your opponent long enough for you to finish up. Remember that?"

The gecko mumbled something inaudible as he rubbed the still stiff spot Aurealis had jabbed. "I suppose… I just have one question. If you can knock Pokémon so easily, what's the point in using moves? Why bother doing anything other than the things you just said?"

"Simple," Aurealis nodded, answering quickly as if he'd been expecting the question. "Every self-respecting fighter knows about these things, so they expect what places you'll try to aim for and will invariably block you and counterattack. This is why fights include punches to the face and other moves, because you need to weaken your enemy enough before you can attempt a knockout blow. How _much_ you need to weaken them depends on their skill level and stamina."

"…O-kay, I think I get it," Grovyle mused.

"Really?" the Lucario challenged, "Summarize what I've been saying so far."

"You fight to end the fight. You do that by knocking them out, which is easier to do by hitting them on the side of the head. But most enemies will block you if you try, so you have to weaken them first." Taking a deep breath, he stopped to evaluate the answer and found nothing wrong with it. With a slight cockiness, he grinned, "Is that all? Or should I be expecting some sort of quiz?"

"Nope," the Lucario smiled, "That's all right. Now… do you think you're up to learning punches, with your left hand of course?"

Grovyle sighed, looking around uncertainly. Aurealis' lecture hadn't taken long, but the gecko was getting increasingly lazy. Well, if he was already here, he might as well give it a try. "Yeah," he finally replied, "I guess I am."

And so began his first 'martial arts' lesson. Aurealis nodded and grabbed his left claws and pushed them into a fist. "This is how you punch. The majority of the power comes from the momentum. You gain that by putting your body behind the blow, like this." To demonstrate, he pulled back Grovyle's arm until the gecko had to turn, and then shot it forward. The grass type watched amusedly, thinking how easy it looked. "You try now."

Nodding, he tried to replicate what Aurealis had just done, but it felt as though his hand didn't have any force in it at all.

"See, you're not putting your body into it. The arm alone isn't strong enough to deliver a solid punch."

Shrugging it off, Grovyle tried again, but Aurealis shook his head. "Same mistake, and don't forget to extend your arm fully."

Slightly discourage now, the gecko frowned and tried once more. Still, although it felt like he was doing it right, Aurealis stopped him and corrected him. "Try again."

The grass type did, but with no avail. "Try again."

And again.

And again.

* * *

He was still at it by the time the sun painted the sky orange and Manectric sounded the dinner call. By then, both of Grovyle's arms ached and felt as though they were made of lead, yet he continued punching by some stubborn determination to get it right, but he never did - it seemed he was physically unable to punch like Aurealis showed him to. Every time, the Lucario would frown and correct the same mistakes, but to no avail.

At last, the Lucario stopped him in mid-punch and gently lowered the gecko's fist. "We should go to dinner," he suggested, noting Grovyle's increasing sluggishness, "You can continue practicing tomorrow."

"A-Alright," Grovyle panted, letting his arms fall limply to his side and releasing a tired sigh as he did so. "I'll… get it right, I swear…"

Aurealis smiled at his determination. "I can only hope. Let's go."

When they arrived at the dinner table, which was already surrounded by the guild members, Grovyle noticed through his tiredness that there was no meat. This would have had a larger meaning to him had he not been so sleepy.

Thus, they greeted the others routinely and chomped away on their dinner of apples, berries, and something that resembled leaves. As yesterday, gossip immediately began to circulate around the table and Grovyle and Aurealis' mission was sure to be included. The grass type was already half-asleep though, nodding absently in intervals even when he wasn't listening and occasionally raising an apple slice to his mouth with a trembling hand.

Suddenly he could hear Aurealis' voice, and shortly afterwards chuckles came from around the table. That was probably Aurealis' narrative of the day… But the chuckles sounded forced, and Grovyle focused long enough to notice concerned glances aimed at his bandaged wrist.

The rest of the meal was eaten in silence, or maybe Grovyle wasn't paying attention. He began nodding off, and restrained from letting his head fall into the emptied platter in front of him. Finally, he decided to leave.

"G'night, guys," he uttered, pushing in his stool after getting up. His voice sounded so hoarse, he wondered whether they'd understood him.

"Good night," came the echo.

Grovyle nodded, and unwittingly met the gleaming red eyes of Manectric. Something about their intensity jolted him alert and sent shivers up his spine. He quickly looked away and disappeared up the stairs.

'_What's with him all the time?_' he pondered edgily while treading with small strides to his room. He was the first to leave dinner, and the visitors were all gone, so the hallway was barren._ '__He always looks as if he's ready to murder someone. Is that normal? Mismagius said it's his personality…_'

He shook the thoughts away as he entered his room. Just the sight of his bed made sleep wash over him like a wave. He keeled over and practically collapsed onto the bed face forward, earning a pang of agony from his broken wrist.

Wincing a bit, he rolled over onto his back and tried to stare at the ceiling, but his eyelids were heavy and seemed to close on their own. He sighed and relaxed himself, feeling the relief in his muscles and the quiet lull him to sleep.

That was when a thought struck him out of nowhere. '_I told myself I'd go to the Pidgeot Police to ask around about this place… But... so tired… I'll do it… tomorrow…__'_

The line of thought was drowned as his mind shut down. Another wave of sleep washed over him, dulling his pains and easing his mind towards unconsciousness.

'_Tomorrow…_'

The lights in the hall went off.


	9. The Secret of Loran Forest I

"WAKE UP CALL!"

Grovyle moaned and shifted on his bed. "No, not yet," he grumbled, burying his head into the straw.

"Grooovyyyle," came Aurealis' taunting voice, "time to get up."

"No," the gecko persisted, his voice muffled by the straw.

There was a sigh followed by silence, and Grovyle gleefully thought he could go back to sleep, but a violent jerk on his head leaf brought him bolting to his feet with a yelp. He recovered and growled at the Lucario, who only grinned back and chided, "We're going to be late again."

"No, we're not!" Grovyle snapped, throwing up his arms in irritation, "And _don't_ do that again!"

"Whatever you say," Aurealis smirked, and disappeared out the doorway, leaving the grass type standing there, hissing a string of expletives under his breath.

Once the surge of anger left him, a dull ache in his right wrist rose to his attention. "Oh, right, I almost forgot," he sighed, eyeing the bandages on his lower arm, "I'm not supposed to move my arm… Well, at least I don't have to go on another fantastic mission with Aurealis…"

Pondering over this, he remembered what he'd wanted to do today: find information about Mismagius Guild. His broken wrist gave him a convenient excuse to do that; of course, the question was whether he could get anywhere by himself. Who knew, maybe Aurealis would find a way to occupy him somehow, as he had yesterday…

"Grovyle, get over here! You're late!"

'_Oh, right… I should go._' With a yawn and a stretch, he walked out into the corridor.

Mismagius was already floating in the center of the semicircle of Pokémon by the time Grovyle arrived. The gecko took his usual spot next to Aurealis, who glowered at him as if to reprimand him for being late. Grovyle did his best to ignore it and looked at Manectric instead, who didn't provide much relief as he, too, stopped to glare daggers at the grass type. A second later, the canine proceeded to announce, "Everyone is present, guildmaster."

Mismagius nodded and looked through the crowd, her eyes lacking their characteristic joy. "Good morning everyone! I'm afraid there is bad news I must share today..."

The Pokémon whispered between themselves edgily, so quietly that Grovyle could barely hear. "This must be bad." "Yeah, she never starts with that tone!" "What's going on?"

Even though the room was relatively still, Manectric cleared his throat and roared, "QUIET!" The muttering ceased.

"You are correct in assuming that this is quite bad news," Mismagius continued, her voice grim. Until then, Grovyle had thought she could never sound depressed. "First, I would like to announce a major change in guild visitation rules. That is… no more visitations."

The crowd, more than half of it being visitors, gasped.

"Yes, I am aware this will cause a major financial decline, not to mention it will be so much lonelier in here… However, safety and convenience of our members and the direness of our situation must come first, which is why, I'm afraid, visitors will no longer allowed into the guild unless specified otherwise."

Roars of protest erupted from the crowd, but Manectric's booming roar silenced them.

Mismagius continued as if she was never interrupted. "Of course, you are all probably wondering what dire situation I'm talking about. I'm sure everyone remembers the news of a rogue Pokémon that is hiding in the village and has the power to drain the life from its environment? Well, no, it hasn't been identified yet, but the Pidgeot Police claim they've figured out what it's after. Everyone is aware of the legend surrounding Magnolia Village, yes?"

Everyone nodded in unison, except for Grovyle, who noticed he was the odd one out and shrank back in embarrassment.

As if just for him, Mismagius lectured: "They say Magnolia Village is a wonder of plant life – surely everyone has noticed the amount of trees and flowers and how beautiful there are."

Grovyle stopped to think about her words, but he couldn't remember being particularly captivated by any plants he'd seen so far.

"There is a legend that Magnolia Village was created by the Legendary Shaymin. The legend says that Shaymin spawned colorful forests and vast, grassy meadows, and in one of them was founded our village, Magnolia. Like all legendaries, however, Shaymin was sought after, even hunted, for her supernatural abilities. Eventually, she had to flee the area, but she had grown attached to her creation, and could not leave it to wither with age. So Shaymin left behind a relic imbued with her powers; a relic that would keep Magnolia Village and its surrounding areas alive. Supposedly, this relic, named the Magnolia Relic, is hidden deep inside one of our neighboring forests – or so says the legend."

Everyone nodded in agreement, again except for Grovyle. He'd heard some pretty weird things so far but this was simply impossible to believe, and it seemed outlandish to him.

"Anyway, the Pidgeot Police suspect that the rogue Pokémon wish to find and steal the relic for themselves, which would result in the destruction of our environment."

The crowd stood still in a stunned silence. Grovyle, skeptical, thought the news made no sense; why would a Pokémon who had the power to destroy its environment need to steal a relic in order to do so? But he could think no more when the crowd erupted into ear-splittingly loud cries of protest and anger. Not even Manectric could silence them with his roars, so finally he shot arcs of electricity above the audience that blinded them and effectively shut them up.

"There is no reason to panic, though," Mismagius explained, her voice becoming slightly warmer and more cheerful, "We have decided to aid the investigation, so from now on, instead of doing ordinary missions, every member will focus on trying to identify and the rogue Pokémon and bring them to justice."

Before the crowd could react to this, she added, "Now, will the visitors please leave the premises. The visitation ban starts now. No exceptions."

The visitors gave their last groan of disapproval before they picked themselves up and started leaving. Grovyle found himself pushed around as the visitors, many of them being Pokémon much larger than he, jostled their way to the exit. By the time they were gone, Grovyle was in a rage and was ready to lash out at anyone who so much as touched him.

Fortunately, nobody did, and the hall was finally quiet and almost empty. Only around 50 Pokémon were left; about 20 exploration teams in all. And apparently, judging from the tenseness that hung in the air, Grovyle wasn't the only one thankful that the visitors disappeared.

"Finally, they're gone," Mismagius remarked, "I wanted to do this sooner, but I could never find a good reason."

A few chuckles of agreement and relief sounded in the remaining group, and then things got serious again:

"Now, the investigation will start today. Our goal is to locate the Magnolia Relic, assuming it exists, before the rogue Pokémon so we can set up a trap there and catch them. Understood?"

Everyone hollered a 'yes', once again except for Grovyle, who wanted to complain but was cut off before he had the chance to speak.

"I want each team to choose a dungeon nearby to explore. Bear in mind that the relic, again assuming it exists, is probably well hidden, so it is likely that the dungeons may go deeper than we thought. There has to be a hidden path to it somewhere. Anyway, will the teams please state their choice? There aren't enough dungeons to do one team per each, but we still need to make it somewhat even."

Zero and Dexter were first. After a brief discussion and what seemed like an argument, Dexter declared, "We'll do Tremolo Cave."

Next were an Ursaring, an Ivysaur, and a Poliwrath, who were addressed as Team Dawn. They decided on Fantorius Fields.

Following them was a Team Cosmic Eclipse, and then Team Sirron…

As the team names passed by, Grovyle realized that because of his broken wrist, he and Aurealis probably weren't going to be assigned anything. Although Grovyle didn't care much, he was sure Aurealis did, and the grass type couldn't help but feel guilty.

Finally, Mismagius stopped calling out names and announced, "As soon as you're ready, you may leave. Take care and good luck on your explorations!"

Grovyle and Aurealis stood there awkwardly as their guildmates shuffled away. Much to the gecko's dismay, once everyone was gone, Aurealis turned to him and crossed his arms angrily. "Great, thanks to you, I'm stuck here all day," he growled, glaring at Grovyle with such intensity he couldn't face him.

"But-But it's your fault my wrist is broken," the grass type moaned weakly in self-defense.

Aurealis looked as though he was going to explode, but luckily Mismagius saved the day when she flew over to them and said, "Aurealis, I understand you wish to participate, correct?"

His tail and ears perking up in excitement, the Lucario nodded fervently.

Mismagius beamed. "I thought so. Which dungeon would you like to explore?"

After a purposeful pause, Aurealis answered, "Loran Forest. Is that okay?"

Upon hearing the name, Grovyle felt a pang of curiosity and desire to see where his new life had started. "Oh, can I come, too?"

"No," the Lucario snapped, "You need to stay here and let your arm heal."

"Aw, come on, that's not fair!" the gecko protested, "I want to see that temple you found me in!"

"Too bad." Aurealis proceeded to smirk in such a disgustingly self-satisfied way that Grovyle could barely resist the temptation to hit him on the nose. Finally, the grass type resigned with a low grumble, which seemed to only widen the Lucario's grin.

Mismagius glanced between the two and frowned. "My, you two keep bickering like children. Why can't you get along like a normal exploration team?"

"Be_cause _we're _not_ a normal exploration team!" Grovyle yelled, venting his anger "Out of us two, he's always the best at everything; he makes all the choices! Not only do I usually have to suffer for it, but it also makes me feel inferior. It makes me angry." Of course, he had a lot more than that on his mind: Aurealis' mood swings, Aurealis' 'unintentional' pranks during missions, and simply the fact that Aurealis wanted to be an explorer while he didn't.

"Aurealis, what do you have to say to that?" Mismagius demanded.

The Lucario shrugged. "I don't think it's my fault he feels inferior; that's because he forgot everything. As for making all the choices, well, remember when we were in the Flat Fields, and you went your own way? Look what happened then. By making all the choices, I'm only trying to do what's best for us as a team."

"You mean what's best for _you_ as a team!" Grovyle snapped, an insuppressible feeling of fury beginning to boil in him, "You say 'us' but in the end you only care about yourself and your "dream" to explore; you don't give a Magikarp about what happens to me! As for your stupid Flat Fields example, which you've used so disrespectfully; it was _your_ fault I was almost killed! If you'd considered even for a second that I'm not a machine like you are; I can't keep walking forever; I have my limits… But no, you were only concerned with finding the damned Blue Gem! And I bet the only reason you came back to save me was because you needed a partner so you could sign up as an exploration team. You didn't care about what I wanted at all! Well guess what, I don't see why I should give a damn about you and your dreams when you don't care about mine! Actually, I don't even know why I haven't ditched you yet! You and your stupid mystery-"

"That's enough, Grovyle," Mismagius interrupted, her voice trembling.

The grass type huffed angrily and glared at Aurealis who was staring at him quivering eyes.

"Well, I… don't know what to say to that," the Lucario whispered, unable to make eye-contact.

"Don't say anything," Grovyle fumed, "Just… shut up. Shut up and go do your exploring. You're probably better off without me anyway."

With that, he wheeled around and stormed to his room, leaving them in stunned silence. He paced around furiously in the small confines of his room, wishing he could slam something, hit something, or scream as loud as possible. He saw Team AuraBlade's treasure bag lying on the floor, seized it and tried to rip into pieces, but he was too weak – so weak – he collapsed onto his bed and broke down into a sob.

Grovyle sniffled and rubbed his eyes. Looking around, it felt as though he'd awoken from a deep sleep. He couldn't remember how long he'd cried or the precise reason why he was crying. He forgot all but one fact: He was trapped in someone else's dream and forced to follow it.

Sighing, he stood up slowly. He felt utterly helpless and alone. The room was claustrophobic and still; every sound he made was swallowed by a definite silence. He shuffled out the room solemnly and glanced into the chambers as he passed them. They were all deserted.

The grand hall was no different. What used to be a jammed center of activity full of cheer was now a looming expanse of emptiness, so quiet he could hear his own footsteps and their muffled echo. He truly was alone.

Desperate for any sign of life, he trudged sulkily to the infirmary. He rang the bell and, hoping to summon the Bellossom, listened to its resonating chime, but the dead silence returned. His next stop was the dining room, which to his dismay yielded the same results.

Finally, he found himself in front of the door to the guildmaster's chamber. Sighing, he knocked on the door and retreated, keeping his eyes to the floor sullenly.

"Come in!" sang Mismagius, and the door flung open. Not even her mesmerizing voice was enough to lift him from his misery. The door closed behind him but he didn't notice as he stared at the ground.

Mismagius eyed him and floated over to him gently. "Grovyle," she sighed, "I understand you're… having trouble recently. What, exactly, is bothering you? Is Aurealis maligning or bullying you in some way?"

The gecko looked up at her, his eyes slightly puffy and red from his crying. He wanted so badly to tell her what he knew about the guild so she could help him, but…

"I… He's… I don't know," he finally said, choking on his words, "I thought this would work, but… I don't feel right here. I feel like I need to be someplace else… There's so much I want to know, so much to do, but always something… gets in the way…"

Mismagius examined him for a while, causing him to blush mildly and look away. Finally, she observed, "Well, you're a young Grovyle – an adolescent. During this time, there are always inexplicable emotions you'll feel… Plus, you've forgotten everything, so often you will feel that you have no purpose, that you're alone, and it'll frustrate you... That's probably why you feel you don't belong here. You have a subconscious urge to find where you came from, and a desire to see your family and fit in with your kind."

"Family," Grovyle repeated in a whisper, "I haven't thought of that yet…"

"Aww, you poor thing," she cooed, patting him thrice on the shoulder, "I'm sure you'll find them one day."

"I hope so," the gecko mumbled, lowering his gaze to the floor to hide his glazed over eyes.

Mismagius saw them, though, and stopped to think. At last, she flew over to the large chest and rummaged in it. She took out a small box, and from it, she grabbed one speck of a tiny seed. "Here, eat this. It'll make you feel better, I promise."

Grovyle accepted the seed uncertainly, wondering what it was. After inspecting it for a while, he threw the seed into his mouth and swallowed it. Almost instantly, a warm, tickling sensation filled him from head to toe, and he couldn't help but smile and hum with pleasure. As if a fog had been lifted, his depressive feelings were suddenly almost completely gone.

"See, that's better, isn't it?" she beamed, "That was a Joy Seed! Not only do they make you feel happy, but they can make you a little stronger, too."

"Awesome!" he responded, grinning for seemingly no reason at all, "I do feel better now!"

The ghost smiled and returned to her usual position above the carpet. "Now, I may not be able to help you find your family, but I can help you with finding out where you came from."

Grovyle's eyes sparked. "Really? I can go to Loran Forest, too?"

"No, I'm afraid you're not in good enough shape yet to go into a mystery dungeon. You can, however, go to the village's library, where they are sure to have information on Loran Forest."

"Oh," he said, his shoulders slumping slightly in disappointment, "So… Where's this library?"

"If you keeping walk straight from Magnolia Square, you'll come across a crossroad. Turn left there. It's a large building; you can't miss it. Just so you know, it's run by a pretty strict Sceptile. Whatever you do, be sure to be respectful."

"I will," the grass type replied, turning to leave, "Thanks for everything. Bye!"

"Good luck," she cheered, waving as he went out the door.

Grovyle welcomed the fresh air as he made his way to Magnolia Square. It was a clear, sunny day, and the Grovyle part of him nagged him to sunbathe, but he knew he had much better things to do.

At last, he arrived at the square. He hurried along and tried not to look at or smell the food markets that tantalized him so.

Thankfully, he made it with no problems to the crossroad Mismagius had mentioned. As instructed, he turned left, and he immediately noticed a white stone building so large he had to turn his head to see all of it.

'_Wow, this building is huge!'_ He stared in awe as he approached the doorway, which was just by itself taller than the entire Mismagius Guild from the outside.

He stepped inside and noticed a gentle, elderly Sceptile reading a book behind a marble counter. The click of his claws against the stone floor caught her attention, and she put the book down and stood up.

"Hi- err, good morning," Grovyle stammered shyly, feeling dwarfed by her and everything else in the building.

The Sceptile only smiled warmly and replied, "Good morning, welcome to Magnolia Library. What subject would you like to read about?"

"Uh… do you have anything on Loran Forest?"

"Yes, we do." She stepped out from behind the counter and gestured for him to follow. "Come this way."

Hesitantly, Grovyle followed her through a torch-lit hallway. She navigated with utmost confidence, while the young grass type was already disorientated by the twisting, labyrinthine passages that all looked the same.

Finally, they arrived at a doorway above which was etched 'mystery dungeons'. They entered and Grovyle gasped at the sheer size of the room and the amount of bookshelves, all of them at least thrice as tall as he.

The Sceptile politely waited until he stopped gaping and led him to the table in the center of the room. A Hitmonchan was sitting there, studying some sort of scroll.

While Grovyle seated himself on a stool, the Sceptile walked over to a shelf, browsed through the books, and finally picked one out and brought it to the table.

"Here," she whispered, setting the book down in front of Grovyle, "Everything there is on Loran Forest. Once you're done, please put it back in its proper place; I marked it with a red paper. If you wish to check it out, bring it to the front door. Enjoy your stay."

"Thank you," he replied. '_She's not strict_,' he remarked to himself, thinking about what Mismagius had said, '_She seems nice to me…_'

Once the Sceptile was gone, he turned his attention to the book and flipped it open. On the first page, he saw runes that he had never seen before, and swore under his breath in frustration. He didn't even know how to read!

That was when he realized the book was upside down. Blushing heavily, he turned the book over and looked around to make sure no one had seen it.

Then he started reading. On the second page was a map of the region as well as how to get there. Apparently, the forest was one of those that neighbored Magnolia Village. Grovyle also noted the clearing deep within the forest and the crude icon of a temple in it. '_That must be where Aurealis found me_,' he mused, proceeding to turn the page.

There, the text described the native Pokémon: Wurmple, Cascoon, Silcoon, Beautifly, Dustox, Oddish, Vileplume, Treecko, and rarely, Grovyle. Skill level class E to C. He ignored the latter sentence and couldn't help but wonder whether any of the native Treecko or Grovyle could be part of his family.

He shook the thoughts away and read on. The text warned that in some of the forest's clearings, Fearow (skill level class D to B, whatever that meant) hunt and prey upon smaller grass and bug type Pokémon. The following passage stated that Murkrow and Honchkrow (skill level unknown) were relatively frequent in the area, giving the forest a sort of bad reputation.

Nodding away absentmindedly, he turned to the next page, then the next… They all detailed the different areas – 'floors' – of the forest, and gave advice to explorers on what to do as well as providing drawings of what the dungeon looked like. Every page was devoted to one floor, and there were one, two, three, four, …fifteen pages. Fifteen floors.

Grovyle was about to close the book in boredom, but a 'beware' sign on the next page caught his attention. It read:

"_BEWARE! Within the fifteenth floor of Loran Forest is said to be a rare Pokémon, skill level L (legendary). Attempts to identify it were met with failure and death will invariably befall any who challenge it. Do not attempt to locate it. Avoid the fifteenth floor and mystery floors. If the Pokémon is spotted, run. If Murkrow and Honchkrow are present, run. Under no circumstances will you fight it._"

The gecko stopped and thought for a moment. He flipped back to the map of the forest and found the location of the temple – floor fifteen.

Suddenly it dawned on him. '_What if the mysterious Pokémon was the one that nearly killed me and wiped my memory? Aurealis said he'd found me in the temple, badly beaten. And according to this book, that's where the Pokémon resides-'_

"Oh, Muk!" he suddenly exclaimed, causing the nearby Hitmonchan to jump in surprise, "Aurealis! He doesn't know about this!"

"Would you please be quiet, I'm trying to read," the Hitmonchan said politely, but with an edge to his tone.

Grovyle ignored him and ripped the page with the map on it from the book.

"Hey, you're not allowed to do that," the Hitmonchan pointed out in vain as Grovyle ignored him and ran out into the corridor, "Hey, thief! THIEF!"

Grovyle did his best to recall the way back, but at every turn, he reached a dead end and had to turn back. Finally, after countless minutes of mindless running, he saw daylight at the end of the hall-

A leafy tail appeared from behind the corner and slammed into his face, knocking his head into the wall. He moaned in pain and wobbled dazedly on his feet while the head librarian Sceptile revealed herself.

"We don't take thieves lightly around here," she growled, grabbing his head leaf and painfully raising him by it to her eye level.

"Ow! Ow, that hurts!" he wailed, flailing his arms and legs helplessly, "Put me down! I'm not a thief, I swear!"

"Not only were you trying to get away with the paper, you damaged a book," she chastised, still holding him up, "You're lucky I stopped you with my tail and not a Leaf Blade. Now, why are you trying to steal this paper?"

"You don't understand, I – ow! – I need this map so I can save my partner! Let me go, please – ow!"

"Elaborate," she replied, not budging an inch.

"M-My exploration team partner's exploring Loran Forest, and – ow! – and he doesn't know about the danger there! I have to stop him!" He couldn't handle the pain any longer and let out a cry. "P-Please let me go; it hurts!"

The Sceptile stared at him for a moment before dropping him onto the floor. "You'd better not be lying."

Grovyle whimpered as he rubbed the top of his head. Soon the pain receded and he managed to stand. "Th-thanks," he muttered, still shaken up.

She dismissed him with a wave of her claws. "Go and save your friend," she commanded, "After you do, return the paper. If you don't…"

She powered up a bright Leaf Blade, and Grovyle didn't need to hear the rest.

"Y-Yes ma'am," he stammered, and hightailed it faster than he ever dreamed possible.

The gecko didn't stop until he was at the other side of the village. "I'm free," he wheezed, panting, "Away from the diabolical Sceptile lady. Ugh… My head still hurts from that…"

Catching his breath, he unfolded the map he'd taken [under harsh circumstances]. If he was reading it right, he only had to keep going straight and he would soon reach Loran Forest.

As he continued to run, though, the voice of his alter ego kept nagging him. '_Well, Grovyle, I can see this is another of your brilliant, well thought out plans. What are you going to do once you get into the dungeon, hmm? Your wrist is broken, and even if it wasn't, you suck at self defense. The first wild Pokémon you meet will be enough to defeat you. And guess what, you don't even have an explorer's badge, so when you're knocked out, any native can just eat you for lunch. How does that sound?_'

'_Shut up_,' Grovyle riposted, '_I have to warn him. Even though he's annoying sometimes, he's my partner, and I still owe him for saving my life. He takes this mission seriously, and he'll explore every corner of this forest… If he does, he'll come across that beast Pokémon. I can't let that happen._'

The voice said no more, for Grovyle had arrived. A sea of trees loomed above him. "Well, here goes," he mumbled. Taking a deep breath, he entered the dungeon.


	10. The Secret of Loran Forest II

He'd expected the forest to be completely quiet, but it was quite the opposite. Loud chirps and buzzes of insects could be heard, and a constant ruffling of leaves came from the canopy, unnerving him, for he knew that the farther he travelled, the likelier the encounter with a wild Pokémon.

Luckily, the forest floor was relatively lifeless and still, so he treaded through the trees and bushes with ease. He savored the clean, fresh air and, while he felt guilty to admit it, the fact that Aurealis wasn't there to bother him.

However, at the same time, he couldn't help but feel that he was responsible for him. They were a team. A questionable one, yes, but still a team, and as time passed on and there was no sign of the Lucario, he grew increasingly nervous.

Finally, after approximately fifteen minutes of walking, Grovyle reached what the map claimed to be floor 11. This mystery dungeon was proving to be much easier then he though it would be.

"Well," he grinned to himself, glancing at the map he held in his claws, "The temple shouldn't be far from-"

Not even a step further, he almost tripped over an unseen Wurmple and, yelping in a combination of surprise and fear, staggered back. The Wurmple glared at him malevolently, and Grovyle was overwhelmed with a sudden feeling of déjà vu.

"N-No," he stammered, shaking his head vehemently and pointing his claw towards it courageously, "This time, I know what that string of yours is for! And this time, I'll be the one to-"

The Wurmple didn't wait for him to finish and shot a silky, silver string from its mouth at his feet. Although he'd expected the move and jerked back his feet, the few strings that had already hit their target made him wobble and instinctively flail his arms to regain balance. Unfortunately, this sent a pang of pain from his right wrist, and he was distracted by it long enough for him to lose equilibrium and fall backwards.

He hit the ground with a thud and moaned in annoyance. "I hate Wurmple," he growled, rubbing his backside. Meanwhile, the bug in question skipped over to him and, just like in Tremolo Cave, started jabbing his cheek.

He hissed at the unexpected burning sting that followed, and swatted the Wurmple away. Unlike in his previous experience, it recovered and came back with another String Shot, this time to his healthy forearm.

Too late to dodge it, he snarled and tried to wring his arm free, but to his irritation, the silky web didn't so much as budge, and he was rendered relatively helpless.

"Oh, Muk, you've got to be kidding me," he groaned before the Wurmple began stinging him again. Not wanting to be pricked to death, he braced himself for the pain that would follow and swung his right claws at it.

His claws tore through its soft flesh, but he could not appreciate it as a sharp pain shot through his right arm, causing him to cry out. He curled over in agony and grit his teeth, waiting for the pain to pass. Finally, it did, and he opened his eyes slowly and noticed with relief that the Wurmple had disappeared.

"I did it," he breathed, slumping against the ground with a chuckle. "It… was a lot harder than it should have been, but… Heh…"

With a ridiculous grin, he sat up. He managed to free his feet, which were glued only weakly. Once he did so, he could stand up and try to wrench his arm from the adhesive cuff of silk. After several minutes of exhausting pulling, he yanked his arm free and staggered back a bit from momentum.

"Finally," he rasped, panting for breath. He wiped the few drops of blood from his cheek and examined them nervously. The stings from the Wurmple in Tremolo Cave hadn't hurt nearly as much; they hadn't even drawn blood. But these actually stung…

He decided to shrug it off and picked up the map from the ground. Looking at it again, he noticed the temple wasn't that far from where he was. He only had to cross a nearby river and walk a few more minutes, and he'd get there.

With his destination in mind, he rubbed his stung, now slightly swollen cheek once more and set off.

* * *

A few minutes later, Grovyle emerged from the forest and found himself in a small clearing by the river. He trudged to a fallen, hollowed log and flopped against it, a strange feeling of exhaustion settling over him.

"Well," he breathed, "I'm almost there… Just need to get across this river, and keep going for a while after that…"

Suddenly, it hit him that he didn't know how to swim. He stomped his foot and swore. "No," he persisted, "I won't stop now. I'll learn how to swim even if it kills me."

And so he approached the water, but as he thought things through, another problem presented itself – the map. How was he going to keep it dry? If it had so much as one wrinkle or stain on it, the librarian Sceptile would probably hang him from the roof of the library by his head leaf. Even thinking about it made the roots of his head leaf tingle, so he hurriedly preoccupied himself with other thoughts.

"Oh, I know!" he suddenly exclaimed, "I'll just leave the paper here inside this log; I doubt anyone will find it here. I can come back for it on the way back." Proud of this plan, he placed the paper into the hollowed log, careful not to fold it.

Having gotten rid of the map, he timidly poked his foot talons into the water to test it; it was cool so he quickly jerked back. Shivering, he tried again, and this time he lowered himself into the stream, making sure to hold onto the riverbank with his healthy claws. To his surprise, his feet touched the rocky riverbed when his head was still above the surface. He sighed in relief and let go of the shore.

The water rose to his chin, so he could wade through it without trouble if he stood on his toes. It was cold, however, and by the time he reached the other side, his teeth were clattering and he could barely feel his claws. He clambered out from the water and curled himself up for warmth. Even after the warm sun dried him, he trembled from chills and felt quite lightheaded and weak.

After several minutes of lying there, he recovered enough to stand. "What's going on?" he rasped, "Why am I so tired all of a sudden…?"

Something irregular in his throat irritated his breathing and abruptly threw him into a fit of coughing and hacking so intense he doubled over. When the itchy sensation in his throat ceased, he wiped the tears that came involuntarily from his eyes and noticed he'd coughed up blood.

"That can't be good," he wheezed, steadying himself on a tree, "I'd better find Aurealis, fast…"

* * *

And so Grovyle stumbled though the forest, his walk staggered and disoriented. The world seemed to spin around him, and he felt horribly weak. As time passed, he only seemed to grow sicker and feebler. His consciousness drifted, and he felt as though he wasn't in control of his body anymore; that it somehow kept stumbling forward on its own.

The canopy suddenly gave way to clear sky, but misty spots swam in Grovyle's vision, and he could only barely make out the looming shape of a massive structure.

He took a step to move towards it, but his knees buckled and he collapsed. "Why?" he cried, but that was all he could say before he violently coughed up more blood. Too weak to get back up, he crawled into the building as if it could save him.

However, he only managed to crawl to a scratched up inscription on the floor before his limbs refused to budge. He flopped onto the ground and stared at the wall blankly as a black mist enveloped his senses.

As if he were hallucinating, the floor under him seemed to erupt into green lights, then it disappeared and he fell through, and continued to fall. His body was shaken by the impact and he blacked out.

* * *

The first thing Grovyle felt upon regaining his senses was pleasing warmth. But the first thing he saw when he opened his eyes was not as pleasant – a large purple snake, an Arbok, was coiled around him with its head, at least twice the size of his, right next to him. Once he absorbed the sight, something in his mind clicked. He let out a shrill scream and tried to scramble away from the monster, but it snapped awake and didn't let him.

"Loran, what are you doing?" the snake hissed, "Calm down!"

Grovyle didn't even hear the words in his panic attack, and frantically slashed with his claws in all directions, causing the giant snake to hiss in pain and coil around him tightly for him to stop.

"No, no, don't eat me!" he wailed hysterically, struggling vainly to free himself, "don't eat me!"

"I'm not going to eat you, relax!" the snake yelled. Grovyle, immobilized by the snake's bind, whimpered in fear and stared at the serpent with wide, trembling eyes.

"Relax, it's me, Arden," she repeated, lowering her voice and gently loosening her hold on the gecko, "it's me…"

The grass type finally calmed down just enough to think straight, but his terror-stricken expression remained, and he could barely speak. "W-Who…? Where…?"

"It's me, Arden," she repeated for the second time, smiling, "You're safe now." With that, she nuzzled him affectionately, but Grovyle didn't see it that way, screamed, and started flailing around again.

The snake wrapped herself around him like before and waited a few moments for him to calm down. "Sheesh, what's wrong, Loran?" she asked, now sounding worried, "What happened to you, anyway? You were away for so long; I was worried…"

Grovyle still regarded her with apprehension, but he could not hide his confusion. What in the world was she talking about? "A-Arden? I… I don't know anyone named… Arden! Who are you? Where am I? What… do you want from me?"

"Loran, stop it," she scoffed, her face serious again, "Seriously, what happened to you?"

The gecko tensed up, afraid of the fangs she'd briefly exposed. Trying to subtly squirm from her hold, he stammered, "N-No, there must be some mistake… I-I really don't know anybody named Arden, or Loran. You've… got the wrong Grovyle. P-Please let me go."

Finally, Arden looked skeptical. She raised him into the air with her tail and began sniffing him over, prompting him to blush heavily and yelp in protest. She compliantly set him back down on the ground and hissed, "Don't mess around with me like this. Of course you're Loran. You look like him and you smell like him. Now will you stop acting so strange? Why won't you tell me what happened to you?"

"But I'm not Loran!" he screamed, managing to break free from her bind. He ran for his life in a random direction until he was stopped by the fact that there seemed to be no exit from the subterranean cave he was in.

Before he could reorient himself, Arden slithered towards him and bound him with her tail again, so tightly that it hurt a bit. "Listen, Loran," she growled, her face mere centimeters from his, "I don't care how injured you are, if you don't stop this ridiculousness right now, I can guarantee you'll have new injuries to worry about, probably like several broken ribs."

Grovyle swallowed hard and whimpered in fear. "I-I'm s-s-saying the truth! Please listen! My name's Grovyle!" At this point, Arden started to tauten her hold on him, making it harder for him to speak. It was then that he realized what was going on. "M-Maybe I knew you before, b-but I lost my memory! Th-that's why I was away for so long!"

Arden glared at him for a long, painful moment before releasing him and backing away from him uncertainly. "What are you doing here then?" she demanded.

Cradling his aching right wrist, the gecko looked around. At a glance, it almost looked as though he was back in the guild – it was a cave lit up by specialized Luminous Orbs. Taking this in, he answered, "I don't know where I am right now, but… the last thing I remember is suddenly becoming sick and falling unconscious in the temple…"

"When I found you, you were unconscious – nearly dead – from poisoning. Do you remember what poisoned you?"

He rubbed his cheek and immediately, he knew. "Uh… a Wurmple," he mumbled, averting his gaze and rubbing his neck in embarrassment.

"A Wurmple?" Arden screeched, bristling with fury, "You – the one who could take down a Charizard by your own hand – were bested by a _Wurmple_?"

"Err, well, I… forgot everything… including all moves, self defense, and, well… everything. And can someone please finally tell me what a Charizard is?"

"Stop right there," she choked, evidently struggling to contain her anger, "I stand corrected. You're not Loran. Get out of here."

"But wait!" Grovyle put in, his head perking up, "I want to know what I was like before my memory loss!"

Arden shook her head and backed away even further as though she were ashamed to be associated with him. "I'll just say this – he was a thousand times better than you are. He was considerate, smart, and undoubtedly the strongest Grovyle in existence. I should have seen immediately that you weren't him, but you looked the same, and I was blinded by the desire to see him again… But instead of Loran, I get you – a pathetic excuse of a Grovyle who doesn't know what a Charizard is, can't fend off one Wurmple, and probably doesn't even know what the leaves on his body are for."

"Hey, that's not fair!" Grovyle snapped back with a growl, the same feeling of rage as he'd felt earlier in the morning, "It's hard enough to handle the fact that my life's ruined because someone else dragged me into their dream, but now I get insulted like a Magikarp just because I've lost my memory? I'm sick of this! It's not my fault I lost my memory! In fact, it's because your oh-so-perfect Loran got his tails kicked! And just for the record, we can stop referring to me in third person. You said it yourself: I look like Loran, I smell like Loran, so I _am _still Loran; whether you like it or not."

The two glared at each other fiercely before Arden lashed out with her tail and struck him across the face. He yelped in pain as the force of the blow caused him to stagger.

"Get out of here, now," she hissed, not waiting for him to recover.

After regaining his balance and rubbing the pain in his cheek, he matched her venomous glare and spat, "Where's the way out?"

Growling spitefully, she shot forward, bit the scruff of his neck, and carried him down the cavern. It didn't hurt but Grovyle yelped in surprise and flailed around uselessly in her hold. Meanwhile, she reared up towards a particularly low part of the ceiling, which was marked by an etched circle. The section of the ceiling started to glow a bright green and soon vanished, giving way to the roof of the temple and bitter air.

The gecko didn't have time to absorb it as she threw him out. He landed roughly against the wall and cried out in pain as his broken wrist took the force of the impact.

"Don't you dare open this door again," she whispered, glaring at him before disappearing in the hole, which then was resealed after another bright green glow.

"Ugh," the grass type growled, getting up from the jagged ground, "What a stupid snake! I hate her! What does she take me for?"

Angrily, he huffed and kicked at a rock that was lying inconspicuously beside his feet. Unfortunately for him, it was actually a piece of the ground. He shrieked and jumped around on one foot as he clutched his impacted claw.

Mumbling a string of swears under his breath, he leant against the wall to keep from losing his balance and kept cradling his foot, doing his best to hold back the tears that came involuntarily. "This isn't fair!" he cried, "What did I do to deserve this?"

Unable to think of an answer, he slumped down onto the ground, sighing, and examined the floor. "Well, this is where I lost my memory, huh… It sure looks like I must have taken quite a beating…"

Those words reminded him of what Arden had said: he used to be the strongest Grovyle in existence; that he used to be able to defeat a Charizard by his own hand.

"Well, now I'm the weakest Grovyle in existence," he muttered, hanging his head. "But if only I knew what a Charizard is. Probably some very strong Pokémon… Oh yeah, Aurealis mentioned Charizard once; he said they're fire-"

"Oh no, I completely forgot about Aurealis!" the gecko exclaimed, bolting to his feet, "I could be too late by now!" He ran as fast as his tired legs could go out of the temple, hoping to see some sign that his partner had been there. However, just as he stepped into the clearing between the temple and the forest, the last of the sun's light disappeared behind the horizon and the land was plunged into darkness.

Grovyle froze, the fear of darkness gripping him. He looked around rigidly but could only see the looming silhouettes of trees and the irregular shadows cast by the ever so faint, omnipresent green light. Something rustled and cracked in the trees close by, breaking the dead silence and causing him to shiver and whimper in fright. Never taking his eyes off the origin of the sound, he carefully backtracked into the temple. However, he tripped on a jutting stone and fell back with a loud yelp, which echoed before being replaced by nothing but the temple's ominous hum. The Grovyle, panting, scrambled into the temple, through the hallway, and hid in a small crater in the wall. The darkness and eerie humming sound were scaring him to the point where he curled up around himself and muttered prayers to Arceus.

Wind abruptly whipped through the corridor, startling him and causing him to shiver. The cold did not go away; instead, a loud, frequent pattering on the roof began and water trickled through the cracks in the ceiling – it was raining. He tried to ignore it, but a flash and thunderous crash made him yelp and nearly jump out of his skin. He curled himself back up in an attempt to calm and warm himself. In this position, he vainly tried to sleep, but every time the water, thunder, lightning, or wind would wake him up.

"D-Damn it," he trembled, his teeth clattering and his scales cold and slick with rainwater, "This is p-pointless…"

Yearningly, he glanced at the spot where he knew the hidden door was, and was overwhelmed with the desire to open it and climb down into safety. Although he knew Arden probably wouldn't let him, he was enticed by the idea and could not shake it away.

"M-Maybe she's asleep by now," he whispered to himself, inching closer to the door. But before he could even think about trying to open it, it erupted into a green glow and evaporated. The fact that Arden wasn't already screaming at him was a good sign, so the gecko timidly looked down through the hole. Nothing.

As stealthily as possible, he lowered himself into the cave just as the hole resealed itself. He landed with a thud and nervously looked around. His gaze fell upon Arden, who was curled up and snoring lightly. He couldn't help but stare at her for a long moment and notice that her cheeks were moist with tears.

That was when she sniffed the air and, realizing his presence, shot open her eyes. Grovyle recoiled and whimpered as her eyes focused on him and she hissed at him.

"What do you think you're doing here?" she roared, rearing up on her tail and spread her hood wide to make herself more intimidating.

The grass type shrank back submissively, stammering, "I-I can't sleep out there! It's… It's cold, it's raining, there's a thunderstorm, and, and- Please, I-I won't do anything! I'll just sleep in the corner. Please?"

Although Arden retained her fierce glare, it was obvious she relented a bit and felt some sympathy towards him. "Fine," she snapped and slithered towards the opposite corner of the room, with Grovyle following hesitantly. Using the tip of her tail, she etched an arc around the corner, sized just so that the gecko could barely fit inside it.

"Here's the deal," she growled, "You stay behind that line. Let's hope I don't have to tell you what happens when you disobey. Got it?"

Glumly, the Grovyle examined the claustrophobic space he was given and stepped into it. He slumped against the wall, tucked his knees to his chin, trying to take up as little space as possible, and proceeded to stare blankly ahead.

Arden hostile expression changed to one of regret, but it was gone as suddenly as it had come and she turned away sharply.

"Thanks, Arden," Grovyle mumbled as the snake slithered to the other side of the room and curled back up. He wasn't sure whether she'd heard him so he rested his head on his knees sulkily. Although his position wasn't a very comfortable one, he was quite tired, both physically and mentally. It was only a matter of minutes before his eyelids became too heavy for him to keep open and he fell asleep.

* * *

When the gecko awoke from his restful sleep, he couldn't tell whether it was morning or midday – all he could tell from his surroundings was that Arden was still asleep. Noticing this, he gleefully stretched himself out on the ground, stiff from having been in the same, uncomfortable position all night.

'_Oh, right, I need to find Aurealis,_' he realized, '_No time to lie around here._'

He got to his feet, yawned, and stretched. He proceeded to rub his eyes, walk out of his demarked corner, and look for the ceiling door. As soon as he located it, it began to glow the signature bright green and vanished. He approached it but stood there dumbfounded, as there was no way he could reach so high. Frustrated, he paced around below the open hole. '_How the hell am I supposed to get out?_'

Just then, he heard Arden groan and move, so he bolted back to his designated area. "Hi," he grinned innocently, waving at her with a hand.

She glanced at him for a moment and yawned, her mouth so large he was positive she could swallow his head whole.

That wasn't a nice thought and he hurriedly dispelled it by asking, "Um, Arden, exactly how do I, uh, get out of here? The ceiling's so high…"

The snake seemed to ignore him and slithered over to him. She fixed him with her gaze for a long time, causing him to blush and look away awkwardly, before she sighed deeply. "Listen, Loran – Grovyle – whatever you want me to call you," she began, her voice soft and lacking the anger from before, "I must apologize for how I treated you yesterday. You must think me a monster, and you have the right to… But, I was just upset that you've changed so much. You see, you and I... we were inseparable; the best of friends... And I thought'd I'd lost that; I was upset by how different you are now. Please, let me explain."

"Well, all right, just call me Loran then; it is my real name after all," the grass type shrugged, not expecting that at all and unsure of what to say, "but I think I should apologize, too, for what I said-"

"No, not at all," she interrupted, her voice still gentle, "If you really did lose your memory… your reaction was rational. And if you did lose your memory… It's my obligation to explain everything to you."

Although he was tempted by the offer, Loran fidgeted impatiently. "Listen, Arden, sorry to interrupt, and it's not like I don't want to hear this, but I really need to go."

Arden seemed to be slightly taken aback by this. "What? …But why?"

"Um, well, I have a friend who's… exploring Loran Forest," he began, trying to summarize so she could understand, "and he doesn't know that there's a monster here, and I need to find him before he-"

"But there is no monster in Loran Forest," she pointed out bluntly.

The Grovyle, at a loss for words, blinked in surprise. "What? But, I… The book, the book! It, it said that a monster lived near the temple-"

"Oh, that," she sighed, as if relieved, "Let me guess, you were warned that the monster killed anyone that saw it, so it was never identified." After the gecko nodded with wide eyes, she continued, "Well, that was one of the things I was going to tell you… You don't need to worry about your friend, because… That monster is you."

If Loran was startled before, he was in shock now. His jaw on the floor, it took him several seconds to digest what she said, and even then, it didn't make any sense.

Seeing his dumbfounded reaction, she hastily went on to explain. "I told you; you used to be the strongest Grovyle in existence. You could take down a Charizard by your lonesome. No one could ever escape you; not only were you mercilessly strong, you were also mercilessly fast… A deadly combination. You were quite literally undefeatable… Well, until recently, that is, but still…"

The gecko stared some more until he snapped from his daze and shook his head vigorously in disbelief. "No, there's no way," he stammered, "why would I… I would never kill someone! That's wrong!"

"That's what you think now, but things were different back then. I'm afraid you had no choice."

"Why?" he rasped.

Hesitantly, the snake paused. Finally, she replied, "You… and I… are – were, in your case – the guardians of a sacred treasure. In order to protect it, everyone who tried to access it had to perish… It's extremely important."

His jaw slackened even more. "T-T-Treasure? Guardians? What treasure?"

"Please, without any interruptions, allow me to start from the beginning," she insisted, and took a deep breath before she continued, "For as long as I can remember, you were the protector of the temple, hence why it's called Loran Temple – that's right, this forest as well as the temple is named after you.

"Anyway you needed a partner; I mean, otherwise, you'd eventually become insane of boredom and loneliness. And that's a fact, by the way. All guardians or legendaries have some sort of partner. Anyway, that was and still is my purpose: to keep you sane by giving company and to assist with your duties. As for what we were guarding, well, I feel slightly uncomfortable telling you this, but I suppose I have to, since you're still technically a guardian… But before I do, you must promise and swear that you will never, under any circumstances, even under torture, tell anyone what I'm about to tell you."

"I promise," the Grovyle replied immediately, curious and excited.

"All right… Have you ever heard of the Magnolia Relic? That's what we're guarding."

The grass type couldn't help but gasp in a combination of awe and dread. '_The Magnolia Relic! That's what the rogue Pokémon are after! That's what the whole guild is looking for!_'

"I suppose the folklore surrounding it is irrelevant," she continued, oblivious to his thoughts, "but you should know what it is. It's a stone imbued with the powers of Shaymin. By itself, the stone radiates life energy, but it can be used for much more. Much like a moonstone, it possesses strange qualities… If one were to use it on themselves, it would give them the ability to control that energy… As in, they could destroy or enliven the environment as well as kill or revive Pokémon on a whim… It's a dangerous thing to fall into the wrong hands, but it's also necessary to sustain this forest and the areas nearby. And that's why we guard it so intensely."

"Wh-Where is it?" he breathed, absorbing so much incredible news that he felt delusional.

"Oh, down this corridor, there's a treasure chest," she answered, jerking her head in the mentioned direction, "Fortunately, it's nearly impossible to get past both of us. Although you're probably not capable of being a guardian now, not to worry – I'm still here, and this cave is pretty hard to find. So I'd say the relic is safe."

Although Loran heard her, his mind was preoccupied with other thoughts: '_So… could it be that… Could it be that the rogue Pokémon Mismagius mentioned knocked me out in order to get the relic? But… they couldn't find it; they didn't know about this place!_'

Then he suddenly remembered the Mightyena that ambushed him during his and Aurealis' membership test, and the conversation he had with Aurealis the following night. '_What if… What if the rogue Pokémon realized I'm alive and are spying for me in case I lead them to the relic? ...Oh, Arceus... What if they followed me here?'_

He was snapped out of his thoughts when Arden slithered closer to him and, lowering her head to his eye-level, asked, "Loran, are you all right? You look a little pale."

"Oh, uh, yeah, I'm fine," the gecko mumbled in response, "I'm just, er, having a hard time taking this in…"

"I figured as much… Why don't we talk about what happened to you, then?" she suggested.

"Uh, okay," the grass type shrugged, uncertain of where to begin. "Um, well… The first thing I remember is waking up at a Lucario named Aurealis' house. He said he found me in the temple-"

"What was he doing there?" Arden hastily interrupted. "…Oh, sorry. Keep going."

"That's all right. I… I don't know what he was doing there, but anyway, he found me and brought me to his home and patched me up a bit. I was about to leave when he invited me to join an exploration team with him. You see, it's his lifelong dream to explore… Of course, at the time, I couldn't think of anything better to do, so I accepted…"

As he narrated his story, he couldn't help but vividly recall in his mind how his misadventure progressed. He remembered the bond between him and Aurealis that, unfortunately, disappeared in less than a day. As though it were all screaming to be let out, he told Arden every detail he could remember, including how his first encounter with a Wurmple failed miserably. Although she chuckled at that part, he couldn't help but feel increasingly nervous as the part about his predicament neared.

Finally, he told her what the Taillow revealed and how he unknowingly ate a part of the bird for dinner that night. The snake's expression contorted into one of morbidity and shock as he explained that he was constantly being followed and spied on, probably by the Mightyena. At last, he finished his retelling by telling her about the argument he had with Aurealis, how he broke his arm, and exactly how he got to the temple.

When he was done, he observed Arden's reaction and noticed she was visibly worried. However, no one said anything for a painfully long minute. Finally, Arden muttered, "W-Wow, I had no idea you'd been through so much… And I'm sorry if I hurt your arm; I should've been more observant."

"Nah," Loran smiled reassuringly, "it's okay. It's getting better, I think…" His smile suddenly darkened. "Arden, there's one problem. The Mightyena, they probably followed me here. It's quite possible that they found out about this cave…"

"Arceus, you're right," she gasped, "but they can't do anything, can they? Only you and I can open that door, and it's virtually indestructible."

"Still, keep your guard up, just in case…"

"I will."

"...Speaking of the door, how does it open? I mean... The first time it opened, I was falling unconscious. I had no idea it even existed. How come it opened then?"

"It's quite a strange door," she explained, "It doesn't only open when you want it to, but also when you need it to. Frankly, you got lucky you blacked out right on top of it."

"Yeah, I guess..."

A heavy silence surrounding the two, Loran rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "Well," he announced, "I think I should get going now… The longer I'm gone, the more worried and suspicious the guild will get…"

"All right," the snake whispered, "Good luck out there. I wish I could help you somehow…"

"Um, there is something I need you to do… I can't get out of here alone…"

"Oh, right," she chuckled, "things are going to be a little different around here now."

"Hey, I'm sorry I can't jump three meters high!" he protested, waving his arm at the ceiling, "How is that even possible?"

She only kept chuckling and slithered closer to the ceiling door. Grovyle, pretending to be offended, followed her with a huff.

"Climb on," she snickered, lowering her head. Uncertainly, the gecko crawled onto her neck. Her hide was slick and he could barely hold on as she reared up on her tail. Simultaneously, the door flashed green and disappeared. Thanks to Arden's long body, he could hop off onto the temple floor.

"Thanks for the lift," he grinned.

"Anytime. Good luck now. Remember, you never found this place. Your name isn't even Loran. Got that?"

"Yep. Bye, Arden. I'll try to come back sometime soon."

She nodded her head as a response, and then ducked just as the door reappeared and shut her off.

Grovyle stared at the spot the hole had been for a moment, taking in a deep breath through his nostrils. Although the cave seemed to have a ventilation system of some sort, the air down there was quite unpleasant.

Finally, he straightened himself and rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn't dreaming. He'd just found out a lot about himself and it was difficult to believe. '_So, let me get this straight_,' he explained to himself while walking towards the exit, '_My name is actually Loran. I was the guardian of Magnolia Relic until someone kicked my tails so badly I lost my memory. That's why I'm currently the clumsiest and weakest Grovyle ever. Wonderful._'

He was snapped out of his thoughts when the cracked stone floor under his feet was replaced by grass. He couldn't help but smile and stand there for a moment to savor the morning sunlight.

Resisting the temptation to lie down, he made his way back to the river. Fortunately, he did not encounter any wild Pokémon – yet.

Once in the river, he washed himself to make sure that Arden's scent was gone and so he would look in relatively good shape when he got back. Then he proceeded to swim-walk to the other side like he'd done before.

When he got out, he sprawled out on the grass, allowing the sun to dry him. Once he was dry, he couldn't help but roll over and sunbathe his leaves for a while until he finally found the will to stand up.

"Well, I'm almost there!" he announced to nobody, feeling refreshed, "Just this one last stretch of forest and I'm out."

And so he ran into the forest.

* * *

The moment the gecko disappeared in the trees, two Mightyena stepped out from the shadows.

"Well, this was an interesting night, don't you think?" one of them mused with a fangy grin.

"Oh, yeah," the other growled in agreement, "I thought we'd have to watch that lizard lie there and snuff it, but weren't we in for a surprise."

"Who would have thought there's another room _underneath_ the temple?" The Mightyena proceeded to chuckle. "Come on, let's run. Master's going to love this."


	11. At the Marketplace

Sentry Sentret was having a perfectly normal day until the unmistakable figure of a Grovyle appeared in view. The Sentret squinted his eyes to make sure, but there was no doubt - it was Grovyle.

"It's Grovyle, it's Grovyle, it's Grovyle!" he hollered cheerfully, running to the gecko, "He's back, he's back, he's back!"

"Hello, hello, hello," Grovyle chuckled, limping past him.

The Sentret, his short arms waving around in excitement, kept up with the gecko's pace and barraged him with questions. "What happened? Where were you? Are you hurt? Why are you limping?"

"Don't worry, I'm fine," he grinned, panting however, "Just... the way out was much longer than the way in. I guess the dungeon must have changed, for the worse."

Meanwhile, Zero, Dexter, Mismagius, Manectric, and Aurealis emerged from the guild and ran down to meet him.

"Hiya," Grovyle greeted, beaming at them innocently. He stopped and rubbed the back of his neck nervously when he noticed the stern looks they gave him. "Uh... what's wrong? What have I done now?"

"You disappeared for over a day, that's what," Manectric growled, "Not that I care, but when someone disappears, I've got to ask why."

"Don't listen to that old grump," Mismagius hastily cut in, her mesmeric voice calming Grovyle's edginess, "We were worried about you. Where have you been?"

"Librarian Sceptile said you'd gone to Loran Forest to look for me," Aurealis pointed out. "Is that true?"

"Yeah!" Zero concurred, "I mean, no offense, but you don't look like you could survive in there for a day. You've got no items, no badge; nothing."

Grovyle glanced at them all nervously. '_I'm going to have to lie to them,_' he thought glumly. '_No, I'd better change the subject..._'

He did his best to look offended. "Is _anyone_ glad I'm back?"

"Oh, of course, silly," Mismagius chirped, hugging him briefly, with everyone following suit, "It's just that we were worried about you, you know. We though you were... gone. We organized a search, but you weren't anywhere to be found."

"I couldn't even sense your aura," Aurealis added.

"So, spill it," Manectric barked, earning a scalding glare from Mismagius, "where were you?"

Although everyone disapproved of the Manectric's tone, they all looked at him with the same question evident in their eyes. Grovyle shrank back a bit and knew that there was no evading the question this time.

"I did go to Loran forest," he began, taking comfort in the fact that he was still technically telling the truth, "In the morning, after everyone left to the mystery dungeons, Mismagius told me to go to the library. And so I did... I looked up Loran Forest and read that there was some kind of monster lives there. And so I ran there to warn Aurealis, who I knew was in there, searching for the relic."

He took a deep breath. This was where he had to lie; lie to pretty much all the Pokémon in the guild he cared about. "I, er, ran into a Wurmple, and got poisoned... I didn't know what it was, I ignored it... Eventually, I fell unconscious... I don't know how long I was out, but somehow I awoke some time later. Since I couldn't find Aurealis, and I was getting tired, I just went back."

They stared at him like statues for a moment, and he was afraid that they saw through him like glass.

But then Aurealis breathed, "You went in there, all alone, no items whatsoever, incapable of defending yourself... for me?"

Grovyle turned to him and looked into his stunned face. "Yes, yes I did. Even though I'm still mad at you, I owed you for saving my life at the Flat Fields... and apparently you're safe, so... I still owe you."

The others didn't interrupt as Grovyle and Aurealis gazed at each other for a long minute. Then the Lucario's eyes widened slightly, as if he'd realized something. "Neither you nor I ran into any monster," he pointed out, "Isn't that strange? The book you read claims a monster lives in Loran Forest, so... where is it?"

Grovyle cringed. The Lucario fixed him with his deep, crimson eyes, and it was then that Grovyle realized Aurealis knew he was hiding something. The gecko looked around to see if anyone else seemed to suspect anything, but they all respectfully stayed in silence. He had to keep talking. "I don't know, but... isn't it a good thing that neither of us ran into it?"

"I suppose," the Lucario mused, turning away, much to Grovyle's relief, "Now, I think we should all take this afternoon off. We were all a little stressed out with your disappearance, and you must be tired as well..."

"And starving," Grovyle added, rubbing his stomach, "I haven't eaten anything since the last dinner I had."

"Well, it's still early afternoon, so there's no meal ready," Mismagius intoned, joining into the conversation, "but you could go to Magnolia Square and buy something."

"That's a great idea," Aurealis beamed, turning to the gecko again, "let's do that."

"But do we have the Poké to do that?" Grovyle asked, not really caring about the money at all but rather the fact that Aurealis would probably interrogate him on the way.

"Sure we do," the Lucario smiled, "3000 Poké, to be precise."

"3000? But we've only been on two missions, and that got us 2200 combined! ...Hold on. Don't tell me... you went on a mission _without_ me? While I was risking my life and soul - for _you_ - in Loran Forest?"

"Uh, yeah... I apologize," Aurealis muttered, lowering his head, "I couldn't resist."

"Oh, that is so very typical of you," the gecko growled, stomping away down the road, glad to have found an excuse for leaving, though he knew the Lucario would follow anyway.

"Sorry for that, see you later," Aurealis hastily said to the group of Pokémon before running to catch up.

* * *

"So, Grovyle, mind telling me what you're hiding?" Aurealis asked cheerfully, walking alongside the Grovyle, "Your story might be plausible, but you can't fool me. You were intentionally leaving something out, weren't you?"

Grovyle swallowed and quickened his pace. "That's just not fair, you know. You can tell when someone's lying, how they feel... heck, you might as well be telepathic!"

"I _am_ telepathic," the Lucario replied bluntly, and for a moment Grovyle thought things were hopeless, until Aurealis continued, "Well, kind of. Don't worry, I try not to use these powers. It's somewhat of a curse; others' thoughts and intentions whispering out to me constantly; their aura - their life essence, their emotions - constantly visible to me. But don't change the subject, Grovyle. I want the truth."

Aurealis proceeded to stare into the gecko's eyes in such a piercing way that lying again was out of the question. Finally, Grovyle looked away and stammered, "I'm sorry, Aurealis, but I can't say... I promised."

The Lucario's eyes widened with surprise, but then his face relaxed into the blank slate it usually was. "All right, fair enough. I wouldn't ask you to break a promise."

"Thanks," the gecko whispered, sighing in relief, "Please don't mention this to anyone."

"I promise," Aurealis smiled and stopped. "We're here: Magnolia Square."

Grovyle looked around and realized he was right. They were standing in the middle of the square, surrounded by Castform Market, Magmortar's Storage, and the occasional passing Pokémon. The gecko sniffed the air and caught the scent of apples, peaches, berries, and other foods that made his mouth water at the thought of them. "C-Can I buy something?" he pleaded, his eyes fixated on a crate of apples nearby.

"Yep, I'm going to give you all 3000 Poké. Just... spend wisely, okay?" With that, Aurealis gave Grovyle the entire bag. The grass type fished through it and put six coins into his palm.

"Thanks," Grovyle grinned gleefully and ran to the Castform Market. He slowed down as he approached it and looked it over. The shop, comprising of a long, stone counter laden with boxes filled to the brim with items, was run by two Castform; one Sunny Castform, and the other a Rainy Castform.

Grovyle approached the former, as he seemed much more inviting with the optimistic smile on his face. "Great Arceus, a customer!" the Sunny Castform exclaimed, "Welcome, welcome!"

"Oh, big deal, the Rainy Castform mumbled, eyes downcast, "he's probably poor, by the looks of it."

Grovyle looked between the two confusedly. "Um, hi," he greeted awkwardly.

"I'm very sorry for my brother here," the Sunny Castform apologized, though a smile was still somehow plastered on his face, "For some reason, when he was small, he became stuck in this rainy form and he's been such a pessimist ever since."

"Well, it's better than your cheery, gerbil-faced optimism," the Rainy Castform countered.

"Anyway, good day to you, youngster! I don't think I've ever seen a Grovyle around these parts. You must be new! Tell you what. For your first ever visit to Castform Market, you can have any one item for free."

"Really?" Grovyle couldn't take his eyes off the boxes of fruits and berries, and hastily said, "I'll have an apple, then. I'm starving."

Rainy Castform turned to his brother and grumbled in protest, "This is a business, not a social club with gifts! We're never going to get any money if you keep giving things away!"

"Hush now," Sunny Castform hissed, then regained his smile and handed Grovyle an apple. "Here you go."

"Thank you," Grovyle breathed, and immediately chomped away on the apple, devouring it in a matter of seconds. When he was done, he licked his lips and added, "I'll have one more, please..."

"My, you certainly weren't lying when you said you were hungry! This one'll be 30 Poké."

"Uh... I hope you've got change." With that, the gecko handed him the 400 Poké coin.

"But of course we do," the Sunny Castform smiled, promptly handing the Grovyle several golden coins in exchange and another apple.

The grass type nodded in gratitude and munched away, this time in a relatively civilized manner. "All right then, I feel much better. Now, uh... I'm in an exploration team. Is there any item you could recommend?"

"I'm glad you asked!" the Sunny Castform grinned.

...And that's how, nearly quarter of an hour later, Grovyle ended up broke, trudging back to Aurealis, who was still standing there, with a seed of sorts, an extra apple, another seed, a blue orb, and a strange disc thing, all of which he had no idea what was for.

"So, how much Poké did you spend? What did you buy?" Aurealis inquired, looking nervous as though he were afraid of the answer.

"Uh, everything. I spent everything."

"What? What did you buy?"

"Er..." Grovyle lowered his head as if he were being scolded and handed him the bag. "To be honest, I have no idea what this stuff is..."

Aurealis seized the bag and rummaged through it. "Hmm, all right," he mumbled absentmindedly while taking out and examining each item in turn, "Reviver seed; good, that'll come in handy; an apple, you couldn't do without one, could you? Sleep seed, fine, petrify orb... Huh, these are actually pretty useful items."

"Well, I'm glad," Grovyle sighed, "I barely understood what that Castform was saying, I just bought whatever he told me to."

"Ah, what have we here?" the Lucario mused, ignoring his partner completely and looking at the shiny green disc, "a TM... A Giga Drain TM. Brilliant! Why didn't I think of that?"

"What's a TM?"

"It stands for Technical Machine. It teaches you a move. This one is specifically designed to teach Giga Drain. And that is a move you can learn."

"Oh, really?" Grovyle shifted closer to him and examine the disc. "How does it work? Can I try?"

"Of course." Aurealis placed and held the disk against Grovyle's forehead. "Don't move. It might feel a little weird."

The gecko shuffled awkwardly, not knowing what to expect. He didn't have to wait long; almost instantly, the disc began to shine white, and he felt the peculiar sensation of something in his head stirring. As suddenly as it had come, the sensation and glowing ceased. He shook his head and looked around as if expecting a change, but nothing was different. "That's it? ...I feel exactly the same."

Aurealis raised a brow. "Well, what did you expect?"

"I... don't know," he shrugged, "_Something_. So, how do I use that move, whatever it is?"

"All right. Giga Drain needs a recipient to work, so use it on me. Just think of Giga Drain and your mind should do the rest."

"Okay, I'll try..." With that, Grovyle closed his eyes and silently mouthed the words 'Giga Drain' to help him focus. It felt like trying to look for something that wasn't there, but soon he opened his eyes and noticed a faint, translucent green glow surrounding them both. He watched with wonder as wisps of it flew from Aurealis into him. And every second that passed by, the gecko felt more foreign energy rush into him.

"Wow, this is awesome!" he grinned. Any pain or tire he'd felt before vanished, and he examined his arms in awe, feeling stronger than ever.

"That's _my_ life force you're feeling," Aurealis grunted, looking a bit unsteady on his feet. "You can stop now."

Grovyle blinked and focused on something else. Sure enough, the glow disappeared, but his grin remained. "So, this move drains your energy and gives it to me?"

"In simple terms, yes," Aurealis replied, straightening himself.

"That's great!" the gecko exclaimed, "I won't have to worry about running out of energy!"

"Well, everything has its disadvantages," Aurealis argued, "Firstly, the move doesn't work as well at long distances, and it can be stopped by breaking your concentration. In other words, all your enemy has to do in order to stop it is hit you, distract you somehow, hide from your line of sight, or simply run as far as possible."

"Oh," Grovyle said bluntly. "Well, thank you for ruining my moment of joy."

"I didn't mean to do that," Aurealis smiled, "It's really a great move, especially for your species. As you probably didn't know, Grovyle have the Overgrow ability, which makes their attacks stronger when they're about to collapse. So, Giga Drain is an extremely useful move when you're in pain or near unconsciousness."

"I'm just glad I don't have to be so weak and useless anymore." Grovyle paused, as if expecting his partner to say something, and then huffed, "You're supposed to say I'm not useless."

"Sorry, I missed the cue there," Aurealis chuckled briefly. "Anyway... I know you're going to enjoy using Giga Drain, and the energy you receive is going to feel empowering, but please don't take it too far. If Giga Drain isn't stopped, it can keep sucking energy until nothing is left but the skeleton of the victim. That would be murder. And make sure to be careful and remember all the things I've told you about it."

"Okay, I will... Wow, I'm actually excited to go on a mission now and this move out. It must be the first time."

Aurealis chuckled again. "Tomorrow, perhaps, if we're not occupied by the relic search, we could try a D-rank one, now that we're more experienced."

The gecko's excitement vanished. "Are you sure?" he asked nervously.

"Don't worry, D-rank missions are exactly the same as E-rank ones, except they take place in slightly harder and more distant dungeons. Plus, the outlaws are slightly more cunning and tough, but the difference is barely noticeable."

"I hope so..."

After a brief moment of awkward silence, Aurealis patted his shoulder and announced, "I'll be going. I promised Dexter I'd see him this afternoon; he said he had something to show me. What are you going to do?"

"I..." Grovyle stopped himself and thought hard. It was on the tip of his tongue, but he couldn't quite remember- '_Right! I wanted to see the Pidgeot Police!_' "Nothing really," he lied, "I'm just going to look around..."

"If you say so," the Lucario smiled meaningfully, "Anyway, here's the bag. You'll have more use for it than I will." Aurealis handed the gecko the bag and turned to walk away. "See you at dinner."

Grovyle stared after him. '_He knew I was lying. That cheeky, mind-reading little-_' He sighed, not wanting to finish that thought, and looked around for any signs that would lead him to the Pidgeot Police. '_Darn, how am I going to find the place? I'm going to have to ask someone..._'

His gaze fell upon a Marowak, and that someone was revealed. He recognized her as the guild's cook, and she was heading his way. She caught him staring and he looked away rapidly and noticed, for whatever reason, he was blushing and was at a complete and utter loss for words.

Fortunately, she turned and approached Castform Market instead. He felt like a fool; standing there rigidly and watching her argue with the two Castform brothers. Although he couldn't hear what they were saying, he could conclude that she was trying to buy the entire crate of apples, but the Rainy Castform had something to say about it. Finally, the Marowak resolved the issue by slapping an extra gold coin onto the counter, and with that, she seized the crate of apples and, struggling slightly with its bulk, began to walk away.

Grovyle was snapped out of his trance when the Marowak stumbled over something and fell flat onto the ground, smashing the crate in the process and causing the apples to roll away in all directions.

'_Aha, this is my opportunity. Divine, if not a little cliché,_' he mused, '_Well, it's now or never..._'

Suppressing the inexplicable feeling of shyness, he made his way over to her and offered a hand. "Are you okay?"

She grabbed it and he pulled her up to her feet. "Yes, I am, thank you," she replied with a huff, brushing herself off. Without even looking at him, she grabbed the largest remained of the crate and began to gather all the apples into it. Grovyle knelt down and helped her, though it soon became obvious that they wouldn't all fit.

"You're taking these to the guild, right?" he asked, grabbing the rest of the apples and dropping them into his bag, "Do you need help carrying them?"

"Yes, that would be wonderful, thanks," she replied, already standing with the crate and waiting for him.

"Here, I'll take the box, you can carry the bag; it's lighter and easier to carry."

"But... your wrist; isn't it-"

"Nah, it's okay," he insisted, laying down the bag in front of her. Reluctantly, she handed him the crate. It was heavier than he expected, and sure enough, his wrist tingled mildly with pain, but he did his best to ignore it.

She picked up the bag and without another word, the two set off towards the guild.

It was only once they were well out of the square that Grovyle mustered enough bravery to make eye contact and try to break the ice. "So... how long have you been at Mismagius Guild?"

She eyed him briefly before returning her gaze to the road ahead. "Six years. I came here looking for work. My family was, well... I was the only one who could work, and we desperately needed the money. Mismagius offered me the job as a cook, and the pay was incredible... I'd be a fool not to take it."

"Six years? Wow... What do you think about the guild? Do you like it there? ...Have you, um... seen anything suspicious?"

She stopped suddenly and faced him. "Oh, now I remember you! Well, not that you're hard to forget. You're that eccentric Grovyle with memory loss, right? You were asking funny questions about the food for dinner. What was that about?"

"Uh, yeah, that's me," he chuckled nervously, hiding his face behind the box to hide his embarrassment.

"Is it true you don't have a name?" she inquired, starting to walk again.

He felt an itch to introduce himself as Loran, but that would be breaking a promise. "Yep," he sighed, "I'm just Grovyle. Do you have a name?"

"Yes, I do, though no one really refers to me by it. To most Pokémon, I'm just the cook, you know."

"Aw, come on, let's hear it," he smiled, facing her insistingly.

"Abby. My name's Abby."

"Well, nice to meet you, Abby," he grinned, grunted as he shifted the box so it was supported by his shoulder, and extended an arm for a handshake.

She stared at it for a moment before shaking it. The two's gaze met for a moment before Grovyle turned away and repositioned the crate so he held it in both arms again. No one said anything for a while after that; Abby appeared to be deep in thought. The silence was really quite unnerving, and Grovyle's injured arm was beginning to protest with more intensity. At least they were almost there.

"You know, I can't imagine it," Abby abruptly said.

"Imagine what?"

"Amnesia... I can't imagine how it must feel."

Grovyle stayed silent for a moment, perhaps a bit too long. "It's not so bad," he replied quietly, looking at the ground, "I don't really miss anything, since I don't remember anything."

"Still," she continued, "you're a Pokémon. You must have some cravings and desires. There must be something you miss; something you want."

"Well, yeah, I suppose there is..."

"Anyway, we're here," she announced as they approached the guild entrance.

"Where are you taking these?" Grovyle asked, shifting the box in his arms.

"On the dinner table will do."

Thanks to the fact the visitors were presently banned from entering the premises, the hallway was almost completely empty. All the exploration teams were either in their rooms, grouped along the walls, or away on some errand, so Grovyle and Abby were undisturbed as they walked through the hall and descended the stairs to the dining room.

Grovyle set the crate on the table and gratefully stretched his arms. Meanwhile, Abby dumped the contents of the bag onto the table and began grouping together all the apples.

"Uh, one of them's mine," he pointed out, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Right." She put one apple into the bag and then the rest of his items. "Here you go."

He nodded in gratitude and slung the bag across his shoulder. "So... I guess I'm done here."

"Thanks a lot for your help," she said, "I would've been in a lot of trouble if it weren't for you."

"Nah," he replied, managing a grin, "I was just as the right place at the right place at the right time... if there is such a thing."

An awkward silence settling in, he hurriedly added, "Well, I'll be going then."

"See you around," she smiled, returning her attention to the box.

Grovyle turned to leave but then remembered he still hadn't asked the only question he had wanted to ask. "Uh, sorry, one more thing... Do you know where I can find the Pidgeot Police?"

"Of course I do. You take the road opposite the library. It's a pretty long walk, but there's no other turns; it should be easy to find."

"Right, thanks." With that, he hastily ran up the stairs, feeling his cheeks flush again.

* * *

Upon following Abby's orders and taking the road opposite the library, he learned that the Pidgeot Police base was simply a group of tall trees with countless thick branches jutting out and serving as perches for the birds.

He approached the trees, glancing around in all directions in fear of being spied on, but was abruptly stopped by a sturdy Machamp.

"What is your business here?" he demanded, his voice gruff and raspy.

"Uhm..." the gecko was taken off guard by the question, and he couldn't help but shrink back in fear of the imposing figure. Finally, he gathered himself somewhat and stammered, "I-I'm here to see Zeph."

"Why?" came the second question, the Machamp's voice unwavering and absolutely emotionless.

"Err, I... I wanted to ask him some questions, that's all."

"Are you an explorer?"

"Y-Yeah, I am."

"Show me your badge."

Grovyle prayed it was somewhere in the bag, and thankfully, it was. He dropped it into his palm and offered it to the Machamp. The fighting type grabbed it with his massive hand; the badge seemed like a speck of gravel in comparison. The Machamp nodded and threw it back the Grovyle, who of course didn't catch it and fumbled to pick it up.

"You may enter. Zeph is on the tree at the very left."

"Right, th-thanks," the gecko muttered, hurriedly walking past the fighting type and towards the tree he'd indicated. He looked around again to double check there was no one following.

The tree was tall and adorned with several branches, so many, in fact, that Grovyle wasn't sure how he would find Zeph. Pidgey, Pidgeotto, and Pidgeot were constantly flying to and from the branches, filling the air with their squawks and the flaps of their wings. They all looked practically the same to him.

Fortunately, he noticed a panel with the names of the birds in alphabetical order, with miniature bells hanging next to each of them. He figured each one had a different chime that summoned the bird whose name it was next to.

Although there were at least a hundred names on the billboard, Zeph's name was the last and thus easy to locate. Timidly, he rung the bell and looked to see if Zeph had heard.

Sure enough, a Pidgeotto he recognized as Zeph appeared from the high branches and fluttered down to perch on the billboard. "Hello," he greeted routinely, "you summoned me?"

"Hi, Zeph," Grovyle began, "remember me? I'm Grovyle from team AuraBlade. We brought in D'aron earlier. Anyway, there's something I need to talk to you about, in private."

His face changing to one with slight concern, Zeph jumped down from the top of the panel to face the gecko. "What is the matter?"

Grovyle glanced around again, wondering whether the spies could eavesdrop on them even here, inside Pidgeot Police itself. "First, I need to know that you won't tell anyone about this. You'll have to pretend we never had this conversation."

"Uh... Listen, Grovyle, if this is something serious, you should talk to someone more qualified than me. I am relatively new here, and not very-"

"No, it has to be you. You're the only one I know here, and so I trust you the most."

"All right, I guess. You have my attention and confidentiality."

"Okay. It all started when my partner and I decided to join Mismagius Guild. Do you know about the test the applicants have to pass in order to get accepted?"

"You have to find and bring back a Blue Gem, right?"

"Yeah, that. Well, during our mission, we kind of... split up, and I was ambushed by several Mightyena. They told me they had a job to do, and one of them was about to kill me before Aurealis came. Anyway, I didn't think that was significant until a couple days ago. Aurealis and I went to Tremolo Cave to rescue a Taillow, and when we did, she told me some very disturbing things... She said that one of the guilds' members is a criminal, and that they have spies to monitor everyone. She said that if anyone tried to escape, they'd be caught, killed, and used for dinner. Of course, I didn't believe her, that is until I found out we had Taillow meat for dinner that night."

The Pidgeotto's eyes widened slightly, and he tried to look unfazed, but his voice faltered: "It could have been a different Taillow."

"I thought so, too... But the look of fear on her face when I mentioned that we worked for Mismagius Guild; that couldn't have been made up. She was genuinely afraid of something. And after she told me everything, she kind of looked like she knew she was going to die."

"But why would anyone do that? What, if they exist, would the criminal want?" Zeph, his face increasingly more stressed, glanced around helplessly, as if hoping someone else could take care of this problem. He sighed, "What do you want me to do? I can't do anything until you've got some sort of physical evidence."

"That's exactly it," the gecko whispered, "I can't get proof. I don't know how. If I get too curious, they'll notice and I'm done with. Plus, I'm really sorry for dragging you into this, but you're in danger now, too. As long as you keep quiet, though, I don't think they'll do anything to you. As for me, I already crossed the line. It all depends on whether they know I'm telling you all this."

"Well, perhaps we could find out," Zeph suggested. "Who do you think the spies are? Any ideas?"

"The Mightyena, I'm pretty sure. I keep getting the feeling that they're following me."

Zeph leaned in to the Grovyle's ear and whispered, "Then, we could send out some birds to scan the area. It would hardly look suspicious; birds come and go and fly around all the time."

Grovyle's face lit up. "That's a great idea!"

"All right, let's get to it." Zeph let out a series of high-pithed squawks, and at his command, several Pidgey flew out from the branches and circled above the trees. "If they see one, they'll notify me."

"Could we interrogate it if we found one?"

"Yes, I suppose we could. But if the situation is as complex as you say it is, I doubt we-"

A Pidgey abruptly dived down from the air and landed next to Zeph. "That was fast. Did you find one?"

"Yes, sir, we did," the Pidgey panted, apparently in a hurry, "he's hiding right over there in the bushes, the sly dog! How'd he even get there without us noticing?" The bird purposely avoided pointing towards the said bush, but everyone knew he was talking about the thick undergrowth which flanked the tree.

"Good," Zeph nodded. He then whispered to the Pidgey, "call Bruce; we're going to interrogate the intruder."

The Pidgey fluttered over to the entrance and squawked. The Machamp turned to them and headed casually towards them. A snarl sounded from the bush, and a Mightyena bolted out from it, sprinting away as fast as possible, apparently realizing their intentions.

However, Zeph let out a low-pitched signal, and the canine was promptly halted by an onslaught of birds pecking into his fur and talons raking his face. He growled and unleashed a pulse of dark, electric-like energy, sending the birds flying a short distance away. But before he could use this chance to run away, Bruce caught up and grabbed the Mightyena by the scruff of his neck, stopping it in its tracks. The dark type snarled and bit Bruce's arm, but he didn't even flinch and struck the Mightyena a glancing blow across the face. He staggered on his feet, dazed, before he tripped himself and fell to the ground.

"This is a feisty one," Bruce noted dryly, "bring me some rope, we need to bind him."

Grovyle and Zeph, who had stayed behind and watched the commotion from a distance, timidly stepped closer to the fallen Mightyena. They gazed slightly disgustedly at the Mightyena's body, its fur a mess and its face bloodied from the birds and Bruce's punch. However, the Mightyena was still awake, albeit just barely, and its gleaming crimson eyes stared back at them.

The Mightyena's eyes fell upon Grovyle, and suddenly he began chuckling. "You shouldn't have done this, lizard boy. Master ain't gonna be happy. And when Master ain't happy... ooh. You're in for it."

Grovyle swallowed, fidgeting, and shrank back a little. Zeph stepped in front of him protectively and demanded, "Who's your master? Who do you work for?"

The Mightyena narrowed his eyes and snarled, "S'cuse me, chicken-face, I ain't talking to you."

With a huff, Zeph glared daggers at the canine before stepping away. Meanwhile, Bruce arrived with the rope and bound the Mightyena, tying both pairs of his legs together. Bruce also fitted a leash around the canine's neck and tied it to a nearby tree. Then he left without a single word.

"Answer the question," Grovyle finally said after the Machamp left, braving to step closer to the canine.

The Mightyena ignored him completely and chuckled maliciously. "I think you should be more worried about yourself. You crossed the line, lizard boy. I'm sure you know the consequences that follow. I wouldn't be surprised if we had lizard meat for dinner today. Or maybe Lucario meat. I love both." He licked his fangs and a twisted grin spread on his muzzle.

Grovyle flinched and stared at the canine, eyes wide with dread. He tried to keep his composure but his fear was evident and he spoke falteringly. "Y-You're lying. You're the only one spying on me, so you're the only one who knows about what I did. Now that you're confined, news of this won't get out."

The Mightyena chuckled again. "You just keep thinking that way. Let me put it this way: Mightyena _never_ travel alone."

The gecko's eyes widened further, but before he could react in any other way, the Mightyena continued, "Anyway, considering your act today, we need something to keep you in line. So listen up, lizard, here's the deal. If you run your mouth off one more time like you did today, we're going to cook your friends alive and then force you to eat them. Is that clear?"

"Y-You're sick," Grovyle cried, stumbling back from the grinning canine. "You're j-just... sick!"

"Are you going to behave now?"

The gecko sniffled and wiped his eyes before nodding slowly.

"Good. Don't believe for a moment that we wouldn't do it," the Mightyena leered. "Now... scram!" he suddenly roared, causing the gecko to yelp and jump back in fright, despite the canine being immobilized and harmless. "I have nothing more to say to you."

Reluctantly, Grovyle edged away from the Mightyena. Zeph, who had walked out of earshot when the Mightyena sent him off, approached the gecko and asked, "What did he say?"

"N-Nothing I didn't already know," the grass type stammered in response, averting his gaze to the ground and treading hastily past the bird and towards the exit, which was now once more under Bruce's surveillance, "Listen Zeph, I... I've got to go. It's almost dinnertime at the guild; they... they'd be suspicious if I'm not there. Th-thanks for everything."

"No need to thank me," the Pidgeotto nodded, "it's my job. Anyway, you'd better go then."

"Right, well... T-Take care, Zeph."

"I can take care of myself; I'm more worried about you. You look shaken up... Be careful."

"I-I will. See you."

* * *

Grovyle came back to the guild just in time for dinner; everyone was already heading downstairs to the tables. The gecko silently followed the crowd and took his usual place at the dinner table, followed by Aurealis, who sat next to him. Grovyle gazed sorrowfully at his partner for a long time as if he were going to be taken away at any moment. It was a strange feeling; Aurealis' life rested on the gecko's actions, and the Lucario had no idea.

Soon, everyone was seated at the table, and the feast began. As always, bowls of fruits were laid out at the center of the table, filled to the brim with apples, peaches, and the like. However, Grovyle's attention was drawn to a plate laden with strips of meat. As a feeling of sickness overcame him, he remembered the Mightyena's words and he felt as though the criminal was taunting him; reminding him of his fate if he chose to disobey. His stomach hurt from thinking about it and he curled up slightly to ease the sensation.

He was fortunately snapped out of his thoughts when Team Dawn, the Poliwrath, Ivysaur, and Ursaring who sat at the edge of the table, began narrating their day as accustomed. Listening only semiconsciously, he carefully avoided the meat with his gaze and grabbed a big apple from the bowl.

'_What should I do now?_' he thought glumly to himself as he munched away on his apple, '_Everyone's in danger because of me... I can't risk their lives... I have to live here like it's normal. I have no choice._'

He looked around the table and at the Pokémon's expressions; munching away on their meals and laughing heartily. Their faces were all so innocent; so stupidly oblivious to the true nature of things. How could they just sit there and laugh while there was a murderer sitting and laughing with them?

Aurealis started talking, and the gecko was snapped out of his thoughts again. The Lucario narrated his day, how he went exploring and, like everyone else, found nothing out of the ordinary; no sign of Magnolia Relic.

'_Of course they didn't,_' Grovyle sighed to himself. '_I'm the only one who knows where it is, and I can't tell them. They can never find it. This search is useless._'

Aurealis had finished talking. For some reason, he then found himself being stared at expectantly.

"Oh, right," he remarked nervously, his eyes downcast. He wasn't in the mood for talking at all. "You all don't know what happened to me. Well, it really isn't anything spectacular..." He paused to take a deep breath, thought through what he was going to say, and continued, "About a day ago, when everyone left to search for the relic, I went to the library, since I wasn't allowed to go on a mission; not with my wrist. Anyway, I... read that there was a monster in Loran Forest, and I knew that's where Aurealis was, so I... I ran in after him. I was knocked out, though... I really can't remember anything. I made my way back as soon as I woke up."

Everyone silently continued staring at him as though they expected him to say something else. He felt it, an almost sensible pain. He'd lied to all of them. Lied by omission, but lied nonetheless.

Fortunately, everyone relented their gaze. "Well, we're glad you're okay," Dexter chimed in, agreement echoing from the rest of the crowd.

"Thanks, guys," he smiled forlornly, "and I'm sorry, I didn't mean to worry you."

The crowd nodded and, much to the grass type's relief, the conversation shifted elsewhere. Grovyle excluded himself from it and continued eating in silence.

Once he was done eating, he said his goodnights and treaded sullenly to his room. He felt strangely detached as he walked through the empty hall and slumped onto his bed. It was as though this wasn't real life but rather some nightmare he couldn't wake up from; a sick game to torture him.

It was going to be another sleepless night, he knew.


	12. The Realms of Iniquity I

_**Authors Note: **Well, after a long time, the next chapter's up! It's the longest chapter yet, and probably the most difficult so far. It was a challenge to finally start the incline towards the climax - and it's a steep incline. So it might be too fast near the end, but I rewrote it twice and it's the best I could make it._

_Also, thank you anonymous reviewer for the amazing, utterly flattering comment. It made my day. Actually, it still makes my day._

* * *

He was right - he simply could not fall asleep. It was as though some unknown force kept him awake. The entire night, Grovyle's mind was racing with questions and possibilities. Although the Mightyena had threatened him with the lives of his new friends and he would do anything to prevent harm from coming to them, he had recovered from the initial shock of the threat and, also influenced by his boredom, decided to keep trying to unmask the criminal. However, he'd have to be a lot more careful than before and keep it completely to himself.

The main question was, who was the criminal? He spent hours mulling over a list of potential subjects but he always reached a dead end. Mismagius was ruled out; she was the guildmaster. In order to open Mismagius Guild, the Exploration Federation would surely have made a thorough check of her background. Manectric was also on the list, considering he was inexplicably grumpy and had a malicious air about him, but that was really all the gecko had - his own observations. There was no material evidence or even a clue that could point him in the right direction. As for the others... He didn't know ay of the other members well enough to make conclusions. The Pokémon he did know relatively well didn't seem suspicious, either.

And he couldn't investigate; there was always the risk that the Mightyena would catch him.

With the primary question unanswerable, he focused on the Magnolia Relic. He knew that unless they could make him obey them in some way, they would never get to it. But why did they want it in the first place?

He sighed exasperatedly and looked out the window, his eyelids itching and heavy. There was some light outside, but it was still too early to go out. His gaze subconsciously drifted to Aurealis, who was lying on his side, sleeping, his chest rising and falling with each deep breath. Grovyle couldn't help but stare at him for a moment. The gecko realized that although he disliked the Lucario on a surface level, he was quite attached to him. Sure, they only met a few days ago and they had had their share of disagreements, but Aurealis was also the first one he met; he was the one who saved him, he was the one who guided him into this new world, and he was the one who did, in the end, give the gecko something to do with his life. If there was anyone in this new world Grovyle would instinctively hang around, it was Aurealis.

'_It's just too bad he picked this Arceus forsaken guild,_' he muttered to himself, rolling back to a supine position.

As he lay there, staring at the dark void that was the ceiling, his thoughts turned back to Magnolia Relic and Arden. He couldn't help but pity her. After all, she was trapped down there in that stuffy room for who knows how long, and now the only friend and company she ever had didn't even remember her. She'd probably go insane soon if he didn't visit her occasionally.

'_Maybe tomorrow,_' he mused, yawning. That said, he was reminded of what Arden had said about him - that he used to be the strongest Grovyle in existence. Frankly, he found that hard to believe. How could being defeated and one simple case of amnesia be enough to change him from the hypothetical strongest Grovyle ever to the weak, incompetent, and clumsy Pokémon he was now? Surely, if amnesia was all that happened to him, he should have retained at least his physical strength and stamina? He didn't feel as though he were Loran, a guardian with amnesia; he felt as though he were a completely new Pokémon, plunged into this world and age.

Thinking of his change made him wonder how he could have survived his defeat. Obviously, upon failing to find Magnolia Relic, his foes wouldn't have just given up and left him there if he were still alive. They must have thought he was dead. But how was that possible?

All the thoughts about his situation caused a feeling of self-pity to overcome him suddenly. Ever since his memory loss, all he had wanted was to live a normal, peaceful life, but apparently fate had a different idea.

With a sigh, Grovyle pushed away the thoughts and stared at the ceiling once more. He knew it probably wouldn't take long for him to go insane or do something reckless and endanger his friends if he kept living like this. He had to get to the bottom of this mystery, quickly.

* * *

With a silent grumble, Grovyle rubbed his eyes and sat up against the wall. He'd fallen asleep at one point, but it felt as though he'd only slept for a second; that's how much rest his tired body seemed to have gotten. However, judging by the grayish light outside the window, it was perhaps quarter of an hour before the wakeup call.

'_Enough time to go to the lake, I suppose_,' he mused to himself. He told himself to get up but his body refused. Grovyle sighed and stretched himself, yawning. Upon doing so, he realized his broken wrist didn't hurt anymore. He flexed his wrist and, to his joy, he felt no sign of pain. Gleefully, he untied the bandages and threw them aside. His wrist leaves readjusted themselves to their normal position, bringing along a sense of relief.

Motivated by this piece of good news, Grovyle got to his feet somewhat sluggishly and stepped out into the corridor. Most of the guild members were still sleeping, but some were just lying on their beds and nodded to him as he walked by to say good morning.

Sentry Sentret greeted him, too, and the gecko nodded back before trudging down the hill to the lake. Once there, he timidly poked his face into the water and wiped his eyes. He stared at his reflection solemnly.

"Hi, Grovyle," a voice from behind greeted, causing him to jump and wheel around in surprise.

It was only Abby. He sighed in relief and turned quickly back to the water. "You scared me."

"Well, you should expect Pokémon down here," she pointed out, getting up from the ground and walking over to him, "We're all required to come here at least five times a week. You're bound to meet someone here eventually."

The Grovyle grumbled to himself, having wished to be alone. There was also that very strange shyness that made him avert his eyes. "So, what are you doing here this early?" he muttered, kicking his feet into the water and waving them around.

"I couldn't sleep," she yawned in response, "I assume you're here for the same reason?"

The gecko nodded and gazed off into the horizon, where the first rays of the sun began to paint the sky a golden orange. He watched the increasing light, anticipating the warmth that it would bring.

He was too distracted to notice the awkward silence settling in but Abby did and she quickly remarked, "You look depressed. Something wrong?"

"No," he replied immediately, avoiding her gaze.

"You don't look like you're in a good mood."

"I'm fine," he insisted, a little bit too sternly, glaring intently at the lake. He immediately regretted it, but he knew it was necessary to keep from arousing any suspicions.

"If you say so." With a sigh, the Marowak stood up and turned to leave. "Well, I'm going. The morning announcements will be any time now. Don't be late."

"I won't."

With that, Abby trudged up the hill, and Grovyle stared after her with a feeling of guilt. For some reason, he wished he were more kind to her. Once she was out of sight, he shrugged it off and rolled over onto his belly so all his leaves could get the sunshine. The indescribably blissful feeling like a warm tingling under his scales returned, and he couldn't help but close his eyes and smile with pleasure.

Of course, it was only a few moments later that Manectric's voice boomed: "Wake up call!"

With a loud groan, the gecko picked himself up from the ground reluctantly. "Stupid wake up call," he grumbled, trudging back up the hill.

Once he was back inside the guild's main hall, he noticed with immediate relief that the hallway was nearly empty. There were only a couple dozen Pokémon in the usual semicircle, so there was no need to fight for personal space.

He easily spotted Aurealis in the crowd and made his way over to him. "Good morning," the Grovyle greeted, taking his place next to him.

"You're actually on time. Sunbathing again, were you?" the Lucario remarked, looking over the gecko.

"Yep. I could't sleep."

That was all that could be said before the door to Mismagius' chamber flew open and the guildmaster and her right hand took their position in the center of the semicircle. As always, the ghost addressed everyone with her cheerful eyes, though now it was significantly easier to do with less Pokémon.

After Manectric roared to silence the crowd (which was already relatively silent), Mismagius began, "Good morning everyone! Isn't everything so much better when it's not so crowded?" It was a rhetorical question, so Mismagius immediately continued.

"As we all know, yesterday's search for Magnolia Relic ended in failure. However, we're absolutely sure it's somewhere near the village. It must be hidden very well. Since searching again is highly unlikely to return any results, we'll postpone that for now. Instead, I ask that everyone try to gather information about the Relic anytime possible. Otherwise, today will be a job day like any other. That is all."

"Excuse me," Dexter put in hesitantly, keeping an eye on Manectric in case he was going to explode, "I was wondering whether there was any news on the rogue Pokémon."

For a slight instant, Mismagius appeared to have no idea what the dragon was talking about, but then she gasped, "Oh yes, that almost completely slipped my mind. But no, there has not been any news regarding the rogue Pokémon."

With that, the crowd dispersed. Grovyle didn't pay it much attention; in fact, he hadn't even been listening to the announcements. He was observing everyone in the crowd in an attempt to find the criminal. For the first time, he noticed that everyone was wearing a band similar to his. They probably all got it along with their bag, like he and Aurealis had.

"Grovyle," Aurealis called, snapping the gecko out of his thoughts with a poke to the ribs, "it's time to pick a job."

"Oh, right," he replied absently. The two approached the billboard, a task that was now infinitely easier with less Pokémon around.

"Should we do a regular job or arrest an outlaw?"

"I don't care; choose either one."

The Lucario stopped and focused on Grovyle's eyes, finding them to be vacant. "Grovyle, you don't look too good," he pointed out, with a hint of worry. "You've been like this all morning."

"Huh?" the lizard blinked, once again yanked from his thoughts. "Like what?"

"Like _that_. You keep drifting off. You don't pay any attention; your mind is somewhere else. What's wrong?"

'_Is that concern I'm hearing?_' Grovyle wondered, surprised. "I just... didn't sleep well, that's all."

Aurealis wasn't about to be dismissed like that and persisted, "You seem to have sleeping troubles. Is something bothering you? You can tell me, you know."

Although Grovyle was determined to keep lying, he was caught off guard by the Lucario's concern. He wasn't sure whether it was just another mood swing or his actual personality resurfacing. "No, I'm fine," the gecko finally replied, somewhat lamely, and turned to the billboard to end the discussion. "I say we do a rescue mission. Are you okay with that?"

"Yeah, sure," Aurealis sighed, following his partner and looking up at the board.

There were seven rescue missions left. Four of them were one star or above; obviously they couldn't take those. The remaining ones were ranked S, A, and C.

"The easiest mission here is grade C," Aurealis pointed out, "that could be a bit too tough for you, Grovyle..."

"Oh..." the lizard simply said, gritting his teeth. "Let's see the outlaw missions, then."

They looked through the outlaw missions, and thankfully, there was a D-rank mission. Grovyle snatched it from the board and exclaimed, "Look, I found one! The outlaw is a.. a Charmeleon. He's in the Steep Canyon and the time limit is four hours."

"We'd better get moving then," Aurealis smiled. "The Steep Canyon is beside Mt. Raven, I think."

"All right," Grovyle responded, "I'll go get the bag."

"This is where you usually start complaining about something," Aurealis gibed, a thin but good-natured grin on his face.

"Be quiet," the gecko chuckled, running to his room.

He grabbed the bag, shoved the mission paper into it, and stared into space for a moment. '_Aurealis is really nice today_,' he remarked to himself, smiling. '_I hope his mood swings are over._'

With that, Grovyle ran back into the hall and found Aurealis already waiting at the stairs. The two ascended and set off in the direction of the Steep Canyon.

* * *

_About half an hour later..._

"Wow, this canyon really is steep," Grovyle remarked, peering over the imposing edge of the canyon. He felt sick to the stomach and quickly backed away. It sure was high. "How are we going to get down there?

"If we keep walking along the canyon, we'll reach a more gradual hill, and we can get down from there," Aurealis explained as he began his march along the edge of the cliff.

Meanwhile, Grovyle, afraid of the height, kept his distance from the edge and walked behind the Lucario carefully.

The walk was going to be a pretty long one since Grovyle could see that the gradual slope Aurealis was talking about was at least a kilometer away. So, Grovyle tried to think about the Guild and what to do about his predicament, but the precarious fall just a stumble away on his right kept distracting him. So, he tried conversing instead: "Aurealis...?"

The Lucario glanced back briefly but did not stop or slow down to let the gecko catch up. "What?"

Grovyle took a deep breath, feeling awkward about what he was about to ask. "Do you have parents?"

That caught the Lucario off guard. He stopped and blinked and stayed silent for a long time as though he were recalling lost memories. Finally, he continued walking at an even faster pace than before and replied, "Of course I do. Everyone has parents, either dead or alive."

The answer struck Grovyle as emotionless, if not cold. Sighing, he continued, "Well, which one of the two are they?"

Aurealis took a long time to reply again. Obviously he wasn't accustomed to talking about this subject. "I... don't know."

This time, it was Grovyle who froze. "What?" he snapped in disbelief, "How can you not know whether your own parents are alive?"

Aurealis sighed and looked as though he were about to stop but kept walking. "All Lucario are sent away from their parents at a certain age. It has to be like that for our kind to be more... successful, I guess. I haven't met them since."

Grovyle calmed down somewhat, noting the softness in the Lucario's voice. "You don't sound as though you like that tradition."

"I just wish I could see them from time to time. I don't even know where they are... They don't know where I am, either."

"Well," the gecko stammered, "I... I'm sorry."

"No, that's all right... I've learned to live with it..."

Grovyle didn't know what to say after that. He could tell Aurealis was trying to look emotionless again, but his ears and tail sagged and his eyes were downcast.

The conversation made him think of his own parents. It frustrated him that he knew absolutely nothing about them. In fact, he couldn't even tell whether he had any - all he had to go on was what Aurealis had said: everyone has parents, either dead or alive.

"We're here," Aurealis abruptly announced, stopping in front of a fairly long and gentle slope.

"Right," Grovyle sighed. "Let's go."

The dungeon was long and annoying like any other. Fortunately, though, according to Aurealis, Charmeleon were easy to find in dark and narrow places like these because they had a flame that always burned on their tails.

Frankly, Grovyle wasn't sure whether he was supposed to be glad or nervous. He certainly didn't like the sound of fire Pokémon.

Walking soon got boring, and the incredibly monotonous colors of the canyon only contributed to that. Although the bright orange and yellow layers of sediment that made up the walls were captivating at first, they were now downright annoying to see. So far he hadn't seen any traces of local residents, either.

At least they'd found an item, though - a Pecha Band. Aurealis explained that if explorers faint in dungeons, some of their items and money are left behind. That was why they hadn't seen many items lying about before - there were very little of them in easier dungeons such as this one.

However, the item wasn't enough to entertain Grovyle, so, like before, he started talking out of boredom. "Don't you find it a little weird that Mismagius stopped the search for the relic all of a sudden after just one day? I mean, it's perfectly possible that one of the teams missed it..."

"I think it makes sense, actually," Aurealis argued, not looking back to the gecko as usual, "Everyone did their best yesterday; I doubt anyone would find it today. Besides, these outlaw and rescue missions need taking care of. We can't just stop doing them. Pokémon need help; outlaws need catching. Speaking of outlaws, do you happen to know anything about Charmeleon?"

"No, I don't, other than what you've told me," Grovyle admitted, somewhat embarrassed by his ignorance.

"They evolve into Charizard, possibly the strongest and most majestic fire Pokémon. Unlike Charizard, Charmeleon don't have wings. That's why Charmeleon tend to be a bit grumpy and like to battle to 'gain experience'. They can't wait to fly."

"Oh," was all Grovyle could say. And he'd beaten a Charizard before. Him! No one would ever believe it.

"Grovyle!" Aurealis abruptly exclaimed, stopping the gecko with an outstretched paw, "Look, right in front of me. Do you see it?"

See what, he was about to ask, before he scanned the area in front of the Lucario. There was nothing there except for a rock. A very familiar-looking rock.

"Arceus! It's another one of those Geodude, isn't it?" Grovyle whispered, involuntarilsy backing away a bit.

"Yes, it is."

"...You're not going to make me fight it, are you?"

"Yes, I am."

Grovyle sighed with exasperation and growled, "Do you remember what happened the last time I fought one of those? I broke my wrist!"

"Yeah, I know, but-"

"What do you mean, you know?" the gecko snapped. "It hurt like hell! And it just healed, so I'm not about to break it again!"

"No, you won't; please, just listen," Aurealis reassured, trying to calm the grass type down with open palm gestures. "I only want you to practice the Giga Drain move. If the Geodude tries to retaliate, I'll stop it, I promise."

Grovyle glared at the Lucario, then at the Geodude, which was probably still asleep or was simply ignoring them, and then back. "I don't know whether I can trust you," the lizard finally huffed.

His ears and tail drooping, Aurealis conceded, "Look, I can understand why you don't trust me, but you've got to learn by trial and error right now, if you want to learn at all. There's no other way for you. I can't just tell you how the world works, or how to fight, or how to socialize with other Pokémon. You need to try things yourself, whenever you can."

The gecko was silent for a long time, reflecting upon Aurealis' words. Finally, he sighed, "Fine..."

"Stand back a bit, just in case," Aurealis suggested, backing away himself so that he wasn't between the Geodude and Grovyle.

Meanwhile, the wood gecko did as he was told and stared at the Geodude nervously. Finally, he closed his eyes and concentrated on using Giga Drain, silently praying that it would work.

It did. The lizard heard a low, enraged growl and quickly opened his eyes to see the Geodude, its body surrounded by a bright green glow, rise and fly towards him. However, much to Grovyle's relief, the rock type was caught and restrained by Aurealis, who grunted quietly while the Geodude thrashed about in his arms.

Then, finally, Grovyle began to feel the Geodude's life energy flowing into him. It felt as though he were getting stronger by the second while the rock type's flailing grew weaker and weaker until finally it went limp in Aurealis' arms.

"You can stop now," Aurealis said, dropping the Geodude.

Grovyle interrupted the attack and grinned. "I love this move!"

"Well, next time I won't hold him back," Aurealis replied with a smirk, to which Grovyle slumped as his confidence left him. "Anyway, we should get back to looking for the Charmeleon."

"Uh, right."

* * *

Since floors were hard to discern in these kinds of flat dungeons, neither Grovyle nor Aurealis was sure what floor they were on when they spotted the recently put out remains of a fire.

"He's nearby," Aurealis remarked, his eyes closed and his aura sensors hovering in the air, "I can sense his aura. He's not too far ahead... Remember, this is a D-ranked mission, so this will be even harder than before."

"Could you stop reminding me?" Grovyle cringed, trembling slightly from anxiety. "And anyway, you're doing the confrontation this time."

"All right, all right," Aurealis sighed in consent.

With that, the two crept ahead, on the lookout for the outlaw. There were significantly more places to hide in this part of the canyon. The walls narrowed somewhat into labyrinthine curves and there were a few fissures in the walls, but none of them seemed wide enough to hide a Pokémon.

Grovyle also noticed that the walls looked a lot more cracked and unstable, and some chunks of it seemed ready to fall. He strongly hoped that the Charmeleon would go quietly, though that was highly unlikely.

"Grovyle," Aurealis whispered, suddenly yanking the gecko back by his head leaf, "He's right there, behind the corner."

"Oh," Grovyle said, eyes wide. "He didn't see me, did he?"

"No, it doesn't look like it. He's just sitting there... Are you ready?"

The gecko swallowed nervously. "No."

A hint of a smile appeared on Aurealis' muzzle before he jumped out from behind the corner.

"Charmeleon!" he roared, jabbing a paw accusingly at the outlaw. However, the Lucario's fierce tone quickly died. "You're under... arrest."

Grovyle immediately wondered what happened and timidly stepped out into the open and noticed that the Charmeleon was... crying?

Grovyle and Aurealis shared awkward glances. Meanwhile, the Charmeleon sized them up with teary eyes and got to his feet. "Please leave me alone," he stammered, unsuccessfully trying to keep his voice from trembling, "I didn't mean to do it!"

Both Grovyle and Aurealis still stood there, dumbfounded. "It might be a trick," Aurealis suggested, though even he looked at the Charmeleon with pity.

"Maybe..." Raising his claws to show he didn't mean harm, the gecko, after a long moment of hesitation and undecidedness, inched closer to the fellow lizard, who regarded him with fear. "What is it that you've done?"

The fire type looked at him with trembling eyes and stayed silent, as if deciding whether or not to answer. "You're going to arrest me, aren't you?"

"Well..." The gecko paused awkwardly. "Not necessarily. Go on, tell me what you did."

The Charmeleon took a deep breath and, with a quavering voice, began, "I-I'm a Charmeleon, you know? Other Pokémon always th-think that I'm supposed to be s-super tough or something, but..."

Meanwhile, Aurealis stood there awkwardly, not knowing what to do or say.

"...Then, all of a sudden, these Pokémon started beating me up and teasing me for being so 'wimpy', as they said it... I don't know how it happened but I... I was so mad... I exploded; I beat them up nearly to the point of death..."

"Oh," Grovyle looked away for a moment. "What happened to them? Did they manage to get to a healer?"

"I don't know... I hope so... I was scared, so I ran away here..."

Sighing, the gecko looked back at Aurealis. "What should we do? He doesn't seem like a bad guy at all. I don't think it would be fair to arrest him..."

"Grovyle," Aurealis scoffed, "we don't have any idea whether anything he said is true."

"Come on, look at him," Grovyle insisted, gesturing to the sniveling Charmeleon. "I don't believe that a Pokémon like this is capable of doing anything bad."

Aurealis looked away and thought for a moment. "All right," he finally decided, "I think we should bring him back to the village, but not under arrest. Maybe we could try to get the Pidgeot Police to investigate."

"That's a good idea, the gecko replied, proceeding to turn to the Charmeleon, who had, rather suddenly, stopped crying, though there was still a hint of hopelessness on his face. "What do you say?"

The fire type nodded solemnly and rose to his feet, still trembling slightly. Meanwhile, Grovyle fished out the badge from the bag and held it in his palm. Charmeleon glanced at it glumly before the three were enveloped in a blinding golden light.

* * *

The Charmeleon was quiet the entire way. He took small, hesitant strides and his head was constantly downcast. It was due to this unusual sullen nature that Grovyle and even Aurealis couldn't help but feel bad for bringing him in like this.

Finally, the three arrived at the guild. They stopped at the gate, as if allowing Charmeleon to examine its facade. The lizard didn't seem to appreciate it and walked onwards with the two AuraBladers following.

This time, a different Pidgeotto was waiting at the billboard. His features were significantly more angular and his eyes uncomfortably sharp. His face seemed to be stuck in a permanent frown.

The Pidgeotto noticed them and approached. He greeted them with a nod and a curt hello and identified himself as Weston.

"Hi," Aurealis began, looking back and forth between the Pidgeotto and the Charmeleon undecidedly. "This is the Charmeleon we were asked to bring, but..."

The Lucario wasn't sure how to finish the sentence so Grovyle stepped in and continued for him, "He's protesting his innocence, and we were wondering whether you couldn't have made a mistake in outlawing him."

Weston scowled a little. "You do know he crippled three Pokémon for life?"

"Yeah, he told us, kind of," Grovyle responded lamely, glancing at the Charmeleon, who hanged his head shamefully. "But he was being attacked, what else was he supposed to do?"

"If he was attacked, then why is there not a scratch or bruise on him?"

To this, the gecko had no response, and both he and Aurealis stared at the Charmeleon dumbly. Truthfully, the Charmeleon's hide was as clean as could be.

"And that's why this guy is only ranked D," Weston lectured, somewhat coldly. "He can't lie to save his life."

The Charmeleon sniffled and turned away from Grovyle's hurt glare. "You lied? Why? Why would you lie and then turn yourself in anyway?"

The fire type looked up at the Grovyle apologetically with tearful eyes and then quickly turned away again. "B-Because, I didn't want you to think I was a bad 'mon, and... I'm really not, I swear... I didn't want to do what I did; I wouldn't hurt a soul..."

"So what _did_ you do, truthfully?" Aurealis demanded, crossing his arms.

"I _was_ being bullied, b-but not the way I told you... I-I was being pressured by others of my kind to be like them... be violent... All my life I'd been lonely; the odd one out... I wanted desperately to fit in, and... I didn't want them to laugh at me, so... I did what they told me to... I attacked c-completely innocent 'mons... A-And while I was doing it, all the others started cheering and hollering, and I just... I realized what I was doing and r-ran away... I... I lied because I felt guilty and ashamed of what I did... I'm not asking for forgiveness. I-I i_wanted_/i to be punished for what I did... that's why I came along with you."

Grovyle and Aurealis were silent, eyes downcast as they once again felt some pity towards the outlaw. Weston, however, contorted his face into an expression of scorn. "I hope you don't believe him again."

The Charmeleon, ignoring Weston completely, sighed and collected himself somewhat, as if a load had been taken off his shoulders. He smiled weakly and glanced at both Grovyle and Aurealis. "For what it's worth, thanks for trying to defend me, though."

The two AuraBladers nodded their heads slightly but remained silent and otherwise motionless. A moment later, Weston grumbled to himself and rolled his eyes, as if exasperated, and hopped closer to the Charmeleon. "All right," the bird huffed, puffing up his feathers a bit to appear more imposing. "Charmeleon, we're going. Here's your reward, Team AuraBlade." With that, the Pidgeotto stuck his beak into the bag that hung from his neck and pulled out a Sitrus berry and a 300 Poké coin.

Aurealis accepted the reward and without another word, Weston showed the downtrodden Charmeleon out the guild.

"Th... That's not fair," Grovyle protested once the two were gone, stomping his foot weakly and wishing that he'd had enough courage to say that in front of Weston himself, "how can he be so quick to make judgements and an arrest?"

Silently putting the two items he'd received into the bag, the Lucario stared ahead for a while, deep in thought.

"I think we ought to go visit the Pidgeot Police," the grass type declared. "If what the Charmeleon said is true, I think he could be released, or at least have his punishment reduced." Grovyle paused and scanned Aurealis for approval.

"I think so, too," the Lucario finally agreed. Grovyle nodded and the two set off.

* * *

Along the way to the Pidgeot Police, the two decided to stop at Magmortar Storage. At first, Grovyle was reluctant - in other words, lazy - to go, but Aurealis made a somewhat lengthy monologue saying that they had no use for the Pecha Band, that it was in the way in the bag, and that if they were ever knocked out in a dungeon, a spare band would be handy in storage.

Persuaded, Grovyle and his partner stopped in front of Magmortar's storage. Like Castform market, it consisted of a stone counter, behind which stood a Magmortar and two buildings: one probably his home and the other a sturdy, stone structure built for storing money and items.

The Magmortar interested Grovyle more, however. The fire type was massive and well built, and had a number of battle scars and the occasional bruise on his front. He also radiated an intolerable heat, as the gecko and Aurealis found out when they approached the counter. Grovyle couldn't stand it and stayed back, discouraged and slightly embarrassed, while his partner took care of things.

After exchanging formalities, Aurealis soon handed the fire type the Pecha Band and Magmortar, upon placing the cloth into a chest in the stone building, delivered his catchphrase in a gruff voice: "I'll guard it with my life."

"Thank you," the Lucario replied. He nodded his head and turned back to Grovyle, who was fidgeting on his feet impatiently.

The two AuraBladers set upon the road that led to the crossroad. However, Grovyle noticed librarian Sceptile emerging from the library. He didn't know why that alarmed him until he realized that he had forgotten the page he'd taken in Loran Forest. His eyes widening with fear, the gecko hastily ducked back into the cover of the marketplace.

Meanwhile, Aurealis stood there and watched the lizard, dumbfounded. "What in the name of Palkia are you doing?" he finally demanded, walking over to his partner.

"Did she see me?" Grovyle whispered, afraid to move.

"Who?"

"Librarian Sceptile."

The Lucario glanced over his shoulder to check. The Sceptile had still quite a distance to reach the crossroad to tell which direction she was going to go, but she didn't seem to have noticed them.

"No, I don't think so," the Aura Pokémon answered, still clueless. "Why? What's wrong?"

"Uh, sorry, I think I'll run back to the guild," Grovyle said, shifting on his feet and keeping his eyes on the crossroad nervously. "Sorry. Please see the Pidgeot Police without me."

Before Aurealis had a chance to respond, the gecko ran for his life. The Lucario stood there awkwardly for a moment before sighing and continuing in his trip to the police.

* * *

Panting, the Grovyle stopped in front of the guild, bending over, leaning on his knees, and greedily inhaling lungfuls of air. "I got away," he rasped, chuckling to himself at the closeness and ridiculousness of his situation.

"No, you didn't," a voice behind him replied with a chuckle; a very familiar female voice that made Grovyle's heart sink. He shuddered and turned around slowly. Sure enough, the Sceptile was standing there, looking very cross with her crossed arms and piercing glare.

The younger grass type whined and backed away, shrinking himself to the point where he was practically on all fours. "H-How did you-"

She ignored the question and grabbed the Grovyle by his head leaf. He braced himself for the unbearable pain that was sure to follow, but surprisingly, Sceptile did not pull. Not yet, anyway. She fixated him with a stern glare and interrogated, "Where's the page you stole?"

"I f-forgot it in Loran Forest," he replied immediately, trembling and lowering his gaze as if apologetically. "I-I was knocked out, and I f-forgot about it on the way b-back."

"Do you remember where it is?"

"Y-Yeah." As he said so, Grovyle, anticipating what the librarian was going to say, silently prayed that the page was still in the log he'd left it in.

"All right then," Sceptile announced, straightening herself and releasing Grovyle's head leaf. "Let's go get it."

"Uh, what... right now?" the younger gecko protested weakly, desperately. Silently, he wondered why she was making such a big fuss about one page, but he wouldn't dare to say that to her face.

"Yes, what's wrong with right now? It's still early afternoon; there's plenty of time left."

Unfortunately, Grovyle saw that she was right. Barely any exploration teams were back yet, which meant there was still more than enough time to do another mission or, in their case, scour Loran Forest for the lost page.

Sighing, Grovyle hung his head and began walking in the direction of Loran Forest, with the watchful Sceptile close behind.

* * *

As the two grass types made their way through Loran Forest, Grovyle realized that, in spite of the circumstances, he involuntarily felt better around one of his kind - that is, the Sceptile behind him that followed his every step. And he certainly hoped that she would one day forget this episode and be as kind as she appeared when they first met.

'_Why would you want that?_' a voice in his head asked.

It was a good question. Perhaps he didn't want to miss any opportunity to make friends. Any help in this new, dark life was appreciated.

The young gecko was brought out of his thoughts when they reached the river and stopped beside the log inside which they would hopefully find the map he'd left there.

It felt like the weight equivalent of a Steelix had been lifted from his shoulders when Grovyle spotted the paper exactly as he'd left it. It had some particles of dust and wood on it, but once he picked up the paper he blew them off.

"There," he sighed with relief, handing Sceptile the paper. He couldn't begin to imagine what she'd do to him if the page was gone.

"Good," the older grass type said, the strict attitude from before evaporating. "I'm glad you were honest. Many Pokémon would have lied and it's mostly that for which I punish them rather than the bad deed they've committed."

Grovyle smiled, feeling somewhat pleased by the praise, and was glad she wasn't cross anymore.

"Now," the Sceptile continued, "let's go back, shall we?"

The two grass types turned and began walking to leave the small clearing that was a riverbank. However, they stopped when the wind abruptly picked up and a low growl sounded from the trees.

It took a moment for Grovyle to guess what it was and he tensed up and hid behind Sceptile instinctively. The older grass type was confused by the gecko's actions until several Mightyena emerged from the trees and surrounded the two, their backs to the river, in a semicircle.

"Who are you?" Sceptile demanded, her voice polite although she widened her stance and raised her arms in case she needed to attack.

There was no answer. Instead, more and more Mightyena closed in on them; soon it became impossible to even count how many of them there were. Grovyle shivered with fright, knowing there was no way even Sceptile could fight them all. They were utterly trapped and helpless. She seemed to know this, too, but she did not back away.

'_But why are they here?'_ he whimpered to himself, '_I-I didn't do anything wrong, did I?_'

"What do you want?" the Sceptile growled, eyeing the dark types. They all bared their fangs and glared at them with bloodlust.

The closest Mightyena, which was only about a meter away, answered: "We want him."

The mentioned gecko swallowed hard and hid behind the Sceptile even further. The older grass type glanced at him curiously over her shoulder and then refocused on the Mightyena. "Why?"

"That's none of your business."

"What are you going to do to him?"

"That's none of your business," the Mightyena repeated, this time assuming a battle stance.

"P-Please help me, Sceptile," Grovyle whimpered, regarding each canine with fear.

Careful to keep her eyes on the opponents, she demanded, "Why, what do they want from you?"

"I think they... Th-They want Magnolia Relic... I-I'm the only one who can get to it."

"You? Magnolia Relic?" the Sceptile breathed, eyes wide with surprise.

"Ah ah ah, Loran, remember the deal?" the Mightyena taunted, grinning. "You don't want Lucario meat for dinner, do you? So shut your mouth."

The gecko shuddered and reluctantly obeyed, turning his gaze downwards helplessly. Sceptile looked between him and the Mightyena confusedly. "Loran? Why did he call you Loran? And what on earth does he mean by Lucario meat?"

"Never mind that," the head Mightyena growled. "We mustn't keep Master waiting."

With that, the first row of Mightyena lunged at Sceptile at once. Quickly, she grabbed the startled Grovyle and jumped into the river, leaving the Mightyena snarling on shore. The two made it to the opposite side while the Mightyena leapt into the river and swam after them.

Sceptile practically carried the stunned Grovyle as she clambered out of the water and began running. She climbed up the first tree she could see and leapt from branch to branch with such agility they were a mere blur. Grovyle screamed with the thrill of it all and dared not try to move from her grip.

Unfortunately, he didn't need to. The Sceptile wasn't used to traveling at such speeds while carrying weight. Her footing faltered once, and that's all it took for them to lose speed and crash into the next branch with such velocity that they were knocked out by the impact. Their bodies hit the ground limply and, after a few moments, the Mightyena surrounded them, grinning.

Loran awoke to a sharp pain in his left side. Moaning, he rolled over onto his back so it didn't hurt as much. Whatever it was, the injury must have been caused by their crash into the tree. Once he realized this, memories of what had happened came flooding back.

"He's awake," a deep voice, easily recognizable as that of a Mightyena's, growled.

"Good," another one mused.

His heart rate accelerating, the gecko opened his eyes to see where he was, though he already feared he knew the answer thanks to the cold, stone floor under him. Sure enough, he was lying exactly on top of the secret door of Loran Temple, with countless looming, black figures on each side, their demonic eyes glaring daggers into him. The Grovyle whimpered as they closed in on him. He felt tiny and powerless, and knew he was entirely at their mercy. Already his mind thought up a list of dreadful things they could do to him.

"Listen up, Loran," a Mightyena hissed, leaning down to the gecko so their heads were level. "We want you to open this door."

'_Oh no, they must want Magnolia Relic...' _Gritting his teeth, he looked around for any hope of escape, but there was none. In doing so, he noticed Sceptile was nowhere to be seen, either. "Wh-Where's Sceptile? What did you do to her?"

The Mightyena nodded to the canines behind him and they dragged the previously hidden body of Sceptile in front of the Grovyle. She had a deep gash on her shoulder and was pale and motionless. At first, he thought with horror that she was dead, but then he noticed her chest rise and fall with each laborious breath.

"She'll be fine," the dark type sneered, "as long as you cooperate. Open the door."

The Grovyle gulped nervously and hesitated, glancing between the unconscious Sceptile and the door below him. '_What do I do? I promised I wouldn't open the door, and it's my duty to protect Magnolia Relic, but... I can't just let them hurt her!'_ The decision was so impossible, he thought he'd faint for a moment. Finally, he stammered unconvincingly, "I-I don't know how to open this door. Th-That time I fell through; it... it was an accident, I swear. It-It just kind of opens on it's own."

The Mightyena nodded again, and on his signal the canines surrounding the Sceptile lunged at her and began clawing and biting her. She woke up and screamed but could not move as the Mightyena tore and bit off pieces of her skin, spraying blood in all directions.

"Stop!" Loran cried, the action causing a stab of pain in his aching left rib. He felt sick and turned away from the disturbing sight of Sceptile who, torn and bloodied, lay there trembling and sobbing with pain. And it was entirely his fault. "P-Please, don't hurt her, I-I'll do anything, I swear..."

"Just open the damn door," the Mightyena snapped.

The lizard looked at the canine helplessly, then at the Sceptile, and then turned his gaze to the door below him. His eyes were beginning to glaze over with tears. He knew his conscience couldn't take it if he made Sceptile go through that again, but if he opened the door, many more Pokémon could suffer.

"Th-This isn't fair," he sniffled. "Why? Why are you doing this? What do you want?"

"Listen," another of the canines growled, stepping forwards and, trying a different approach, speaking in a somewhat gentler and more compassionate tone. "Once you open that door, it'll all be over, and we'll leave you alone. You can live peacefully with your friends and perhaps even have a family, like you've always wanted-"

"Don't listen to them, Grovyle!" Sceptile rasped, reaching towards him with an outstretched, trembling claw, "They'll kill you once they get what they-"

She was cut off by a sharp blow to the head by the Mightyena next to her. "That's quite enough from you," he growled. The rest of the canines turned their attention back to the Grovyle, who stared at Sceptile worriedly, waiting expectantly for him to make a move.

"I've had enough of this chatter," the first Mightyena barked, stamping his forepaw. "If you don't open the door right now, we'll kill her slowly and painfully, and believe me, we'll torture you and every single member of Mismagius Guild if we have to. So what's it going to be?"

His decision was already made, but the Grovyle, practically paralyzed with fear, couldn't bring himself to comply.

The Mightyena sighed with impatience and turned to the Sceptile and spat, "Kill her."

"No!" the grass type yelped, and before he knew what he was doing, the door disappeared with a flash of light, and he fell through and landed with a thud and a yowl of pain at the sharp, stabbing pain in his ribs.

Arden had jumped slightly from the surprise of him falling into the room and was in the process of slithering over to him to greet him when the Mightyena from above leapt down and immediately began surrounding her. She recoiled with the initial shock and then hissed and bared her fangs at them. They didn't back away but they didn't advance, either.

"Loran, who are they?" she demanded, glancing worriedly at the gecko, who was lying outside the ambush, still on the ground, writhing in agony. "What happened? Why'd you let them in?"

The dark types growled and looked at each other indecisively, unsure of what to do with her.

"Don't hurt her, please!" the gecko cried, trying to reach out with his arm in a pleading gesture. "Take whatever you want but please, don't hurt her!"

Arden tensed up. "What do you mean, 'take whatever you-'" Her eyes widened as she figured out what was happening and widened her hood and exposed her fangs in defiance. "They're here for Magnolia Relic!"

With that, she lashed out at the nearest Mightyena with her tail, striking a glancing blow across the canine's face that sent him flying into the Mightyena next to him, knocking him down as well.

The rest of the Mightyena snarled amongst themselves, and at least twenty of them lunged at the snake simultaneously from all directions. Arden screeched and thrashed about with agony and rage, but the dark types managed to hold her down and sink their claws and teeth into her hide.

"No, I'm begging you, please stop!" the Grovyle yelled desperately, but even at the top of his lungs, he could not overcome the noise.

For a moment, the poison type managed to free herself enough to yell desperately, "Loran, you're the Magnolia-"

She was cut off by her own pained screams as the Mightyena pinned her down again and continued in their slaughter. Loran desperately wanted to intervene but he was petrified and could only stare with horror as Arden's struggles weakened and finally ceased. The Mightyena backed away from her, revealing her limp figure, torn and bloody nearly beyond recognition.

The chamber fell into a dead silence. The Mightyena only stood there as Loran took in the ghastly sight. "You... You... monsters!" he choked, eyes brimming with tears, "You didn't have to kill her! She was only protecting the relic!"

The Mightyena disregarded him completely. After briefly examining their wounded, they of them ran to the treasure chest at the end of the room and one of them proceeded to open it. The gecko ignored them and began to crawl towards Arden's corpse.

The canines watched with suspense as a white light beamed from the chest, but Loran didn't care about them anymore. Upon reaching Arden's body, he kneeled beside her head and stroked her skin, sniffling. Her eyes were still open, though they were dull and vacant, so he closed them with trembling claws.

Meanwhile, the Mightyena reached inside the treasure chest once the light died down and pulled out a smooth, round stone with vine-like patterns etched all over it.

"The Magnolia Relic," the dark type breathed, staring at the relic with wide, glinting eyes.

"Master will be proud," another said. "Let's go."

The Grovyle hadn't even noticed them as he gazed somberly at Arden, his heart heavy with guilt and regret. He wished he'd spent more time with her; that he'd been kinder. He was everything to her, he knew, and before his defeat he had probably felt the same about her, too, but now, no matter how much he wanted to, he could not feel those feelings. She was practically a stranger to him, and yet, deep down, her death - which he had caused - filled him with a devastating sadness.

He was snapped from his mourning when a Mightyena shoved him with a paw and snarled, "Open the door, lizard."

The gecko rubbed his eyes and looked at the canine and then at the door. "I'm not doing anything for you," he sniffled, turning back to Arden.

The Mightyena shared glances amongst themselves, chuckling slightly as if they were amused by this answer. "Excuse me?"

"I won't," the Grovyle repeated, trying to sound firm though his voice and body trembled with fear and despair.

"I think you might reconsider," the Mightyena snickered, grinning with bloodlust. He stepped closer to the gecko and rolled him over so he lay on his right side.

"W-What are you-" That was all the gecko could say before the Mightyena placed his forepaws on his injured side and pressed down hard, crushing his already fractured ribs. At that moment, a pain worse than anything he'd ever felt coursed through him. He let out a deafening screech and, almost immediately, he couldn't bear it and begged for the door to open - anything to stop the pain.

The room was filled with the signature green glow. The Mightyena took his paws off the Grovyle, who doubled over and continued to wail with pain, and smiled coolly. "There's a good lizard."

A different Mightyena walked up and hissed to the canine, "Master said we should leave no witnesses."

"Of course," the Mightyena nodded. After a brief moment of deliberation, he and all the other Mightyena turned to the curled up gecko and grinned malevolently.


	13. The Realms of Iniquity II

**Author's Note  
**_YEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH, I'm back on track. I hope._

_I was thinking of writing a "Last Time, on PMD RoI" section, since it's been, what... **a year**? But hey, I hope that a cliffhanger like last time wasn't so easily forgotten. But if you have forgotten, like I have, haha, let me remind you: Magnolia Relic was stolen, Arden was killed, and Loran was left to the Mightyenas' mercies._

_However, if you were expecting a clean resolution to that, you'll be disappointed. This chapter shifts point of view and is the bridge between the previous cliffhanger and what could possibly finally be the turning point. Therefore, I needed a sort of calmer period, and this is it._

_I'm so excited to get to the next chapter, because that's hopefully where things will finally come together. I really am evil.  
_

_Before I forget, here's a thanks to some unsigned or anonymous reviewers:  
Denise: Thank you very much for that flattering comment, and the interesting use of punctuation! Rest assured, the planet is now safe!  
Sonicspeed25: Thanks, I'm glad you think so!  
Anonymous Reviewer: I'm honored that you think that about the characters; personally it's one of the most challenging aspects for me. As for annihilating the Mightyena and their boss, well, I hope that'll happen, too. They certainly deserve it. In any case, thank you very much for the flattering compliments.  
_

_Finally, here's an apology. I'm sorry this is so late. I don't understand why; it's not like I ever lost interested in PMD. And blaming it on business is ridiculous, too. Perhaps it's because this chapter was so hard to write... Contrary to the abundance of cliffhangers in this story, I don't like writing them. They're hard to resolve properly, in my opinion, and the previous one set the bar high. I probably didn't meet it with this chapter - but after rewriting it about three times, I don't think I'll ever be more pleased with it.  
_

_So, here it is, after over a year.  
_

* * *

_Meanwhile, back in Magnolia Village..._

Aurealis stopped to gaze at the massive tree that was the Pidgeot Police headquarters. The tree was almost impossible not to notice thanks to the branches that constantly swayed and rustled as the birds came and went. Usually, this image was elegant - majestic, even - but at the present, the tree was a frenzied beehive of activity. Leaves and twigs showered from above like sparks and the air was filled with a cacophony of squawks as Pidgey, Pidgeotto, and Pidgeot flew around frantically, issuing hasty orders left and right.

"What's going on?" the Lucario asked Bruce, who was evidently a little restless himself.

The Machamp looked back over his shoulder at the mayhem, his habitually stern expression replaced by wide, excited eyes. "They've sighted the rogue Pokémon. It's a Shaymin - a _corrupted_ Shaymin!"

"Really?" Aurealis breathed, suddenly forgetting the reason he'd come there for. "Where?"

"All the way in Amber Falls," he whispered dramatically, adding emphasis to every syllable to make Amber Falls sound like another planet.

"Amber Falls?" Aurealis repeated, raising his brow quizzically. "That doesn't make any sense. Why Amber Falls? There's nothing there; it's just a destination for sightseeing... isn't it?"

"I suppose," Bruce shrugged, reassuming his stone countenance. "Still, the Shaymin has reportedly been causing damage there, and the entire Pidgeot Police is flying over. It could get nasty."

"I can imagine," Aurealis mused, slightly relieved that the criminal has been found, "with a legendary Pokémon such as that. I hope they manage to stop her..." The Lucario snapped from his thoughts and shifted on his feet. "Anyway, if that's the case, my request can wait for another time. I wish good luck to the Pidgeot Police. See you."

The Machamp nodded in response, and with that, Aurealis turned around and headed back. As he got farther away and the noise from the tree died down in his ears, he noticed that although there was not anything unusual about the streets themselves, an ominous disturbance hung in the air. To him, it was as tangible as a gust of wind. He shivered.

That wasn't the only thing that troubled him. He hadn't told anyone about it yet, but for the past few days, his mind felt clouded and slow, somewhat similar to the effects of a high fever, yet physically, he was completely fine.

At first, he'd thought it was a side-effect of his tremendous excitement. However, he had begun to be a little more suspicious when he noticed himself acting very unnaturally. He'd do things so unlike him, like pick on Grovyle, and, in the manner one observes the absurdity of one's dreams only after awakening, not even realize it until afterwards.

However, his troubles were forgotten and replaced by a sense of belonging once he turned left and saw Mismagius Guild, sitting proudly at the top of the hill. He smiled as he remembered how lost and purposeless he'd been before he'd joined the guild. And then he remembered the Pokémon who made all this possible: Grovyle.

Speaking of whom, where was he? After his mysterious and frankly downright strange bolting away from Librarian Sceptile, Aurealis had no idea where the grass type was.

Seeking to find out, the Lucario entered the guild and looked around. The hallway was still empty. At any other time, Aurealis would have been suspicious of this; the hallway was never this empty during the day. However, intent on finding Grovyle, he ignored it and went to their room, but the grass type wasn't there, either.

Puzzled, he decided to ask someone about it. He approached Zero and Dexter's room, having vaguely perceived them in it when he'd passed through the hall.

"Hi," Aurealis greeted, poking his head into the doorway before following with the rest of his body, "I hope I'm not intruding."

Upon entering the room and looking over the two, the Lucario's eyes widened slightly. Both Zero and Dexter were peppered with bruises and scrapes. Zero's white fur was dirty and specks of gravel were tangled in it while Dexter, being larger, sustained more injuries, especially on his back.

"Oh, are you guys okay?" Aurealis asked, gaping at their wounds. "What happened?"

"We're fine," Dexter replied with a grunt, to which Zero mumbled something along the lines of 'speak for yourself'. The Flygon ignored it and grabbed the treasure bag from his neck and threw it between their beds. "We've only just come back from our mission."

"It didn't go so well, I take it?" the Lucario remarked, wincing sympathetically.

Dexter stretched out on his bed with a loud, exhausted sigh and began rubbing a cluster of bruises on his shoulder. Meanwhile, Zero sat on his bed and tried to pick out the larger chunks of dirt from his fur. "It sucked," the Zangoose finally muttered. "Someone thought it was a smart idea to send us into a cave that was about to collapse."

"Really? What kind of mission was that?"

"It was a two-star mission," the Flygon sighed, sitting up. "It stated that the cave was starting to get unstable and that we had to lead an evacuation. But it didn't say that-"

"It'd collapse into our face," Zero finished with a grumble. "Startin' to get unstable, my tail."

"Then again, the ruckus you made with that Dugtrio probably wasn't building any reinforcements," Dexter chided, a small grin growing on his face.

"Hey, that Dugtrio was toyin' with us! He deserved everythin' I yelled at him," the Zangoose replied with a slight growl. "Besides, every time you walk, the ground shakes, so you ain't one to talk."

"That's not true!" the Flygon protested, feigning offense by stomping in indignation. This made the ground vibrate slightly, and Zero snickered.

Aurealis ignored their bickering and breathed a silent wow, his eyes shining. Although he was supposed to at least act worried or ask whether they'd managed to get all the Pokémon out, he felt nothing but admiration for them. Hopefully, one day soon, he could do exciting missions like that.

"Anyway," Dexter continued after clearing his throat, standing up along with Zero, "we were just about to head to the lake to wash up. Was there something you wanted?"

"Oh, right, yes... Have you seen Grovyle? I can't find him anywhere, and I don't sense his aura, either."

"Again?" Zero blurted out, earning a glare from his partner and another, less severe, from Aurealis.

"No, sorry, we haven't," the dragon replied, shaking his head disapprovingly as he turned away from Zero. "When did you last see him?"

"That's the thing... It couldn't have been more than ten minutes ago. He said he'd go back to the guild, but... he's not here."

"Well, I hope he's all right," the Flygon remarked, rubbing the back of his neck as he averted his gaze to the tiny window. "I know it's not my place, but... you guys tend to get into a lot of trouble. First it was the incident during the test, and then Grovyle disappearing... And have you noticed how upset he looks recently? I haven't been observing him or anything, but... I couldn't help noticing..."

"I've noticed," the Lucario admitted, eyes downcast and ears drooping, "but I don't understand it, either. I suppose it might be because of his amnesia... or..." '_Or it's my fault,_' he thought glumly, unable to say it aloud.

"Maybe... But hey, we could be underestimating him. He might be just lying around in the sun somewhere, like Grovyle tend to do."

"It's possible," Aurealis replied, though he highly doubted it. "I might as well go down to the lake with you to check if he's there..."

"Good idea," Dexter nodded, and with that, the three of them stepped out the room and through the hallway, single file since it was relatively narrow. To break the silence, Dexter turned his head back to face Aurealis and asked pleasantly, "So, how did your mission go?"

"It wasn't what I expected," the Lucario answered, without lifting his gaze from the space he was staring into. "We tried a D-rank mission today; we were supposed to apprehend a Charmeleon. I thought it could be difficult, considering our type disadvantage, but it turns out the Charmeleon let himself be turned in. He might have even been unjustly accused; when we got back we went to discuss this with the Pidgeot Police. That was when Grovyle ran off all of a sudden..."

"That's strange, I wonder why he would do that," the dragon thought out loud. Then he turned to the Lucario and smiled. "But at least you completed the mission. I'm glad you're doing well."

The three reached the stairs and scaled them slowly. Aurealis glanced at the Flygon, his curiosity piqued. "When did you two become an exploration team?"

"Three years ago," Dexter replied, his eyes shining with remembrance. "I was still a Vibrava then."

"Oh, wow. That's quite a while... How did you meet?"

Dexter was about to answer when Zero moaned loudly, "Here we go again."

Aurealis looked at him with confusion while the Flygon rolled his eyes. "Here we go again what?"

"Whenever he tells this story, he tells it completely wrong," the Zangoose grumbled.

Aurealis turned to Dexter with interest and the Flygon explained whilst stifling a grin, "He's too proud to admit that his tail needed saving."

"It didn't! I was doin' fine before you showed up," the normal type exclaimed, jabbing a claw towards his partner for emphasis.

"You keep thinking that," Dexter replied, voice dripping with sarcasm. Zero snorted and turned away, crossing his arms.

"So, what _did_ happen?" Aurealis asked, observing them bemusedly. He noticed that unlike most of the arguments he had with Grovyle, Dexter and Zero were both being playful - this bickering was part of their relationship. Even though Zero did seem to be genuinely grouchy, it was evident that he wasn't going to stay angry, and no matter what either of them said, they were still going to be best friends. The Lucario felt a pang of desire to have such a bond with someone, and again he was reminded of how poorly he treated Grovyle. Why did he continue to do so even though he knew he didn't want to?

"Zero was a bit of a bully when I met him," Dexter started, snapping Aurealis out of his thoughts. "Before we came here to stay at Mismagius Guild, we lived in Rencrow Settlement. It's on the other side of Mt. Raven. Anyway, we went to the same school together. We weren't friends, though; as I said, he was a bully and I was a small Vibrava. To be honest, I was a little afraid of him, so I kept my distance. But everyone knew that his favorite victim was a Machop by the name of Stan. I still don't know why you hated him so much, Zero, but never mind that. Zero would often pick on him and beat him, and although Stan tried to fight back, he was no match for Zero.

"Then Stan evolved into a Machoke, and boy, was Zero in trouble. One day after school, when I was walking home, I saw from a distance that Zero and Stan were close to duking it out again. This time it was Stan who was doing the taunting; he was trying to get Zero to attack so he'd have an excuse for beating him up. Naturally, Zero, being the hotheaded idiot that he is–"

"Hey!" the said Zangoose interrupted, glaring daggers at the Flygon, who only ignored him and kept going.

"–refused to back down even though it was obvious he was at a disadvantage. Sure enough, Zero jumped at him and got a whopping punch to the nose. How far did you fly back? Three, four meters? Anyway, that should have been his clue to give up - heck, he should have fainted after that - but no, he got up and kept coming for more. Needless to say, Stan was enjoying himself. I was worried he might overdo it, though, so I ran over to stop him. I told Stan that it was enough, that he should back off, but unsurprisingly, he wouldn't listen. So I used Supersonic on him and, while he was recovering, tried convincing Zero to run. Of course, he wouldn't hear it. In spite of the horrible shape he was in, he managed knock Stan out with a few... strategically placed hits, to put it lightly.

"He didn't even thank me at the time. In fact, he said, and I quote, 'What the hell are you doin' here? Who gave you the right to butt in?!' That was enough to intimidate me into leaving, but seeing the extent of his injuries, I couldn't bring myself to run away. I talked him into coming to my house, since he lived a lot further than me. He was adamant that he was fine, but in less than a minute, he fell asleep on my bed. When he woke up late in the evening, he wasn't so peppy; he could hardly move. So I gave him dinner, we talked a bit, and I guess that's how we became friends."

Aurealis, who had been listening intently, smiled to himself as he envisioned the story. "That does sound like Zero," he remarked, turning to the Zangoose with amusement, "but–"

"I'll have you know I would've beaten him myself," Zero mumbled, not as vehement as before. "Dex always blows that part way outta proportion."

"Your nose was broken, you had a black eye, you lost a tooth," the Flygon recited, counting off the points on his claws. "Basically, your face was all bloody and messed up and you could barely stand. I'm not blowing anything out of proportion."

"_Anyway_," Aurealis interrupted, stepping between them whilst stifling a chuckle, "my question is, if Zero was a bully, why would he join an exploration team?"

"Well, we hung out more and more, and I like to think I had a positive influence on him. Though I still haven't been able to make him talk normally." Dexter and Aurealis both smiled conspiratorially at this, but Zero didn't seem to know what they were talking about. "Anyway, after we finished school, we didn't have any way to make a living, and I suggested we form an exploration team. I don't know if he liked the idea at the time, but we didn't have much of a choice."

"I see," the Lucario mused. However, his thoughts about the story were practically forgotten once they reached the lakeside. It only took one glance to know that Grovyle wasn't there.

While Zero didn't stop walking and jumped into the lake with a splash, Dexter noticed Grovyle's absence as well. "Sorry he's not here," he said, looking down.

"Thanks, but that's okay," the fighting type sighed, his ears drooping. "I wasn't really expecting him to be here, anyway."

"Will you keep looking for him?"

"Yeah. I have a bad feeling that something's wrong," Aurealis replied, staring off into the distance.

Dexter paused for a moment, examining the Lucario's expression, then offered, "I could help you look for him, if you want. I can fly, so it could be easier."

"Oh, I wouldn't want to impose," Aurealis said quickly.

"It's not an imposition," the dragon countered. "I'd like to help."

"Well... okay." The Lucario's face brightened. "Thanks."

Dexter nodded, turned to his partner, who was standing in a shallow part of the lake and washing himself, and yelled, "Hey, Zero! We're going to go look for Grovyle! Want to come?"

"No," the Zangoose replied immediately, not stopping in what he was doing.

Dexter furrowed his brow in anger but let it go with a sigh. "Fine, we're going."

"See ya later then," Zero called.

Dexter turned back to Aurealis, his head a little low. "Sorry about that... He can be a little inconsiderate..."

"That's all right," the Lucario shrugged. "I really appreciate you helping."

"I'm glad to help," the Flygon smiled. He stretched his wings and yawned. "So, where do you think we should start looking?"

Aurealis thought about it for a moment. "Well, he's obviously not around the guild. Where else could he be? He ran because he saw Librarian Sceptile, so maybe she knows something?"

"To the library then," Dexter affirmed. He sat down but got up again when he saw Aurealis walking away. "Where are you going?" he called after him. "Come on, I can fly us there, it'll be a lot faster."

Aurealis stepped back towards him. "Are you sure?" he asked skeptically, sizing him up. "I'm probably heavier than Zero."

"Don't worry, I think I can handle it," the Flygon chuckled in response, sitting back down and lowering his neck and wings to make it easier for Aurealis to climb on.

The Lucario, having never flown before, approached him and climbed on to the base of his neck with hesitance. "Uh... Are you sure about this?" he stammered, trying to find a grip on the Flygon's skin.

"Yep," Dexter replied eagerly, straightening up a bit and spreading his wings to their widest span with a whoosh. "Just hold on, don't panic, and you'll be fine."

"That's easy for you to say, but– whoa!" Aurealis could say no more as Dexter leapt into the air with a grunt and his wings started flapping rapidly, shaking them both. The Lucario didn't pay attention to this, though, because he instinctively shut his eyes and clung to the dragon's neck for all he was worth.

After a while, the frantic flapping stopped, and Dexter was more still. "Come on, look down!" the dragon type instructed cheerily, his voice barely audible over the wind and his wingbeats.

Aurealis opened his eyes reluctantly and peered downwards. His stomach flipped at the sight of the guild, which looked no larger than his paw. "Urk! Arceus, that's high!" he exclaimed, hurriedly closing his eyes again and hugging the Flygon's neck. "Couldn't you have warned me?"

"Trust me," Dexter stated matter-of-factly, "if I told you not to look down, you would have looked down anyway."

"Well– You shouldn't have said anything!"

Dexter chuckled, or at least it sounded like it through the strong wind. "Open your eyes, though! You'll never get used to flying if you don't watch."

"Oh, all right," the fighting type grumbled, and, not relaxing his hold, opened his eyes once more. He began feeling queasy again, but he steeled himself and forced himself to watch the passing scenery. He occupied himself by spotting the different markets along the Magnolia Square, and was relieved to find that they were quickly nearing the library.

* * *

If they had stayed a while longer, they would have seen Manectric walk down to the lakeside. Zero, who was shaking himself dry at that point, noticed his approach and acknowledged it only with a glance in the canine's direction. The Zangoose didn't particularly like him; for whatever reason, the normal type's fur would bristle whenever Manectric was around.

"Zero," Manectric spat, stopping a meter behind him.

And there was the bristling. "Yeah, what do ya want?" Zero- asked curtly, ruffling the fur on his head into the usual style with his claws.

"Mismagius wants to see you," the electric type snapped. Then, his keen eyes darted around the place, and he added, "Where's your partner - Dexter?"

"He and Aurealis went lookin' for Grovyle." Zero turned finally to Manectric and glared at him, giving him his full attention. Normally, pokémon couldn't stare into the canine's eyes without being intimidated. But Zero wasn't one to be intimidated, and he took pride in the scowl that tugged at Manectric's expression at the obvious display of defiance. "What does Mismagius wanna see me for?"

"Why don't you go see her and find out?" Manectric growled. Zero narrowed his eyes, and the two simply stared at each other for a few seconds. Then, without a word, he started walking, heading up the hill path.

The moment Zero had his back to Manectric, however, he was knocked unconscious by a swipe of Manectric's massive paw.

The electric type took satisfaction in watching the Zangoose collapsing to the ground. "Seven more to go," he muttered to himself, and began dragging the Zangoose to the back of the guild.

* * *

"All right, we're landing!" Dexter announced, and he angled downwards and practically let himself fall. Aurealis watched with horror as the ground rushed up at them, until it seemed they were going to crash. But, at the last moment, Dexter pulled up with vigorous flaps of his wings, and they proceeded to drop to the ground gracefully.

"Here we are," the Flygon declared, beaming. He sat down, allowing Aurealis to slide of his back. The Lucario blinked and wobbled on his feet a bit, as if he were dizzy. Dexter observed him with amusement and added, "Don't worry, you'll get used it after a while."

"Yeah, sure," Aurealis moaned, shaking his head to focus himself. "Let's just go in, shall we?"

Dexter got up and the two of them entered the library. They'd both been there before but the colossal size of it never failed to impress. However, something else caught their attention - instead of Librarian Sceptile, there was a Kangaskhan behind the counter.

"Good afternoon," she greeted with a polite smile. "May I help you?"

Aurealis and Dexter glanced at each other with confusion. "Um, yes," the Lucario began, "we wanted to see Librarian Sceptile."

"She's not here, I'm afraid," the Kangaskhan answered.

"Do you know where she could have gone?"

"Oh yes, she talked about it quite frequently. Two days ago, a Grovyle came in here and tried running out with the page of a book - a map of Loran Forest, I believe. She stopped him but he pleaded for her to let him go so he could save his exploration team partner. She did, but under the condition that he'd bring back the page. He didn't, and she was quite furious, so, not too long ago, she went out to find him."

"That would explain why he ran off like you said he did; you don't want to get Librarian Sceptile angry," Dexter commented, shuddering in remembrance. "She shook me like a rag doll once, when I accidentally knocked down some books with my tail because I was newly evolved and wasn't used to it yet... It was scary..."

Aurealis paused as he reflected upon their words. "All right, but where could he have run, if not the guild?" he asked aloud. His tail drooped when silence followed.

"Well," Dexter started tentatively, "did Grovyle at least mention the page?"

The Lucario shook his head, but then stopped as a thought struck him. "Come to think of it," he said, "I never saw it. I don't remember him even having it when he came back from the forest yesterday..."

"That's got to be it, then," the Flygon exclaimed, hitting his palm with his fist. "Grovyle lost the page and, upon seeing Librarian Sceptile, went to go find it."

"In Loran Forest? Alone?" the fighting type blurted, his eyes widening.

"Sceptile would have gone after him if she saw him," Kangaskhan put in.

"Still, I don't want to risk him getting hurt..." Aurealis turned to Dexter and rubbed his neck. "Sorry if I'm being paranoid, but... If it isn't too much to ask, could you, er... fly me there?"

Dexter smiled. "You needn't have asked."

Nodding with gratitude, Aurealis turned back to the Kangaskhan. "Thanks for your help," he told her.

"Yep, and goodbye," Dexter chimed in.

"No problem, and good luck," the Kangaskhan replied, raising a paw to wave.

With that, Dexter and Aurealis left the library and stopped at the path in front of it. "So, are we going right away?" the Flygon inquired, sitting down.

"I don't see why not. It's a pretty simple dungeon and we'll be flying, so I don't think we'll need our items. At any rate, Grovyle has our team's bag."

"Okay, let's go then," Dexter shrugged, proceeding to lower himself to the ground like before. With less reluctance than last time, Aurealis climbed on his back. The dragon type straightened, leapt into the air, and, with rapid flaps of his wings, they were off.

* * *

As they grew nearer to the forest, Dexter descended closer to the treetops to see better. However, he soon gave up trying to squint through the thick foliage and yelled back to his passenger, "It's impossible to see anything from up here! We'll have to go by foot!"

Before the Flygon could start landing, Aurealis shouted back, "No, don't! Just keep flying low; I'll be able to sense his aura from this height."

Although he had his doubts, Dexter nodded and kept flying. In spite of the situation, a pleased smile was on his face - he loved being in the air, like any pokémon capable of flight should; it made him happy. Plus, in dungeons such as this, it was a great advantage - they could move faster and avoid practically all the wild Pokémon.

Needless to say, Aurealis was not enjoying himself as much, but he was less afraid than last time, now that he had gained some firsthand experience. More importantly, he was concentrating on finding Grovyle's aura, so any other thoughts were held at bay.

Soon, they crossed the river, and they continued gliding over the trees in silence for a while before Aurealis exclaimed abruptly, "Stop!"

Flinching slightly in alarm, the Flygon halted in midair to the best of his ability. "What is it?" he asked, squinting down to see if he could spot anything. The only thing out of the ordinary was a ruined temple beneath them. He'd been in it once, but there was nothing inside, leading him to wonder what it was for.

Aurealis furrowed his brow in confusion. "I... I think I sense a grass type down there, but the aura's too faint for me to tell who it is..."

Dexter blinked. "Uh, all right then, I'm landing. Hold on..."

They descended in a tight spiral and landed in front of the temple entrance. Aurealis jumped off the dragon and, curious, they ran inside. It was exactly the same as the Lucario remembered, except it was empty. Midway, they slowed to a halt and looked around.

"There's nobody here," Dexter remarked, looking around. He approached the wall and brushed it with his paw. "But it seems there was quite a fight."

"That was here last time," Aurealis replied absentmindedly, instead focusing on finding the aura he had felt.

Dexter mistook his silence for uncertainty and turned back to the Lucario. "I don't mean to be rude, but... is it possible you were mistaken?"

"No, it's here somewhere," Aurealis insisted, moving around slowly while staring intently at the ground. Dexter could only watch as the Lucario paced around, looking as though he'd dropped something.

"There's a room underground," the fighting type declared finally, straightening himself and walking over to the circular pattern on the floor. "That's where the aura is. And this seems to be the entrance, except... Well, how to open it?"

Intrigued, Dexter joined him at the trapdoor. "A room underground? But what would Grovyle be doing there?"

"I have no idea, but I do think it's him," responded Aurealis, proceeding to inspect the floor for any signs of an opening mechanism. Frustrated, he soon gave up when he saw nothing but stone.

Dexter noticed the Lucario's fruitless attempts and gave the floor a knock. "Maybe we could break it open..."

"What?" Aurealis demanded dryly. "It's probably a meter of solid stone. It would take hours to break through."

"Not for me," Dexter grinned, puffing up his chest. "Stand back and watch."

Hesitantly and with some skepticism, Aurealis backpedaled until he was a safe distance away. "Just make sure to stop at the right time."

Dexter nodded and proceeded to take an alarmingly deep breath. Energy began to gather at his mouth, and before Aurealis could see what was happening, a deafening explosion almost swept him off his feet. Hurriedly, he crouched down and shielded his eyes from the dazzling light. The ground shook, and then it stopped.

Aurealis stood back up tentatively, only to gape at the damage and mouth a silent "wow". The entire hallway was shrouded in smoke, but he could clearly see the massive hole in the floor. Recovering from his awe, he tried to find the Flygon in the smoke and exclaimed, "It worked! I don't... That's amazing!"

There was no response, and, his brow creasing with worry, Aurealis searched for Dexter's aura. He found the dragon in the same place where he'd been before, but something was wrong. Approaching him, Aurealis saw that he was doubled over and his face was contorted with pain.

The Lucario was about to ask what was wrong when Dexter relaxed with a sigh and looked back up at him. The dragon type flashed a smile and flapped his wings, making the smoke dissipate somewhat.

"What was that?" asked Aurealis, not entirely convinced. "Are you all right?"

"Yep. That was a Hyper Beam, and don't worry, that happens every time. It immobilizes me for a while after using it, but I'm fine now." Seeing that Aurealis was going to press the matter further, Dexter hurriedly added, "Let's go see who's down there!"

Aurealis nodded at that, and the two jumped down into the hidden room. Smoke clung low down there, so it was difficult to see, and the rubble from the explosion might have buried whatever had been there. However, neither of those factors held any problem for Aurealis, who made his way straight to the source of the aura. It was very recognizable; there was almost no doubting it now...

"Grovyle," Aurealis breathed, taking in the sight of the unconscious gecko. Immediately, he rushed to the grass type and brushed the debris off him. But before they could grasp the extent of his injuries, the Grovyle started coughing violently and wheezing for breath.

"We should get him to fresh air," Dexter yelled, and with an approving nod from Aurealis, he picked them both up and ascended through the blown ceiling with a few flaps of his wings.

They never noticed the second body, lying dead and invisible under a tomb of rocks.

Instead, they focused entirely on the task at hand as Dexter flew out of the temple and set Aurealis and Grovyle down on the grass. They then looked over the gecko's injuries, and Aurealis cringed at the large bruise on his side and the familiar, savage bite marks on his neck.

"This is horrible," Dexter mumbled, hanging his head. "Who would do such a thing?"

"I don't know," answered the Lucario absently, still trying to ascertain his partner's condition. It was somewhat difficult to see exactly how bad the wounds on the neck were due to all the dried blood. Yet in spite of the massive amount of blood he must have lost, the grass type looked in relatively good shape. Nevertheless, he needed treatment, and Aurealis cursed the lack of items. But then he remembered. "Dexter, could you search this area for our treasure bag? I'm sure Grovyle had it with him, but he must have dropped it sometime in the struggle. It wasn't in the temple."

Since all treasure bags were practically identical, Dexter had no need to ask what it looked like. He nodded and took off for his search.

Aurealis turned back to the Grovyle with sad eyes. It seemed the grass type was constantly in pain. Was there a time when he was happy and without some injury? Or was he suffering just because Aurealis forced him into the guild?

Even though he didn't allow himself to think that, the Lucario couldn't bear to look at him like this, and Aurealis' thoughts turned to the argument - the most heated one yet - they had two days ago.

Sighing, Aurealis held Grovyle's claws. "Don't worry," he whispered gently, "We'll get you back to the guild... You'll be all right. And then I'll change... I promise."

The statement, however, seemed to be the opposite of soothing. The Grovyle coughed weakly and his eyelids fluttered but didn't stay open. "No, not the guild, no...!" he rasped harshly, his face suddenly set with fear. "Can't... go back; they'll..." However, he could say no more as his tensed body relaxed again and he drifted back into unconsciousness.

Aurealis stayed staring at him, eyes wide as he digested the words. But he shook it off when he heard the approaching flaps of wings.

"I found it," Dexter announced upon landing, mildly out of breath. He held up the battered bag and Aurealis took it gratefully. The Lucario then rummaged through it, found the Reviver Seed, and forced it into Grovyle's mouth.

"That should heal him enough so we can move him," Aurealis said, standing up. "Can you carry both of us?"

"I should be able to, yes," Dexter answered, lowering himself to prepare for flight. Aurealis handed him the body of Grovyle, and then climbed onto the dragon's back.

"Are you ready?" Dexter asked, meanwhile ensuring his hold on Grovyle. Taking the lack of a response as an affirmative, the Flygon added, "Hold on!"

And with that, Dexter leapt into the air with powerful beats of his wings, and they were off towards what was now their home. Little did they know, it would be the last time they set foot in Mismagius Guild.


	14. Underground

**A/N: I really should stop disappearing for months on end. It's not like I'm the busiest person in the world, and yet I see authors who write 100,000 word stories in a year. I need to learn those skills. xD Seriously, though, I'm really sorry for how long this is taking. In fairness, I had a tough time with this chapter, but I'll talk about that in the post-chapter author's note since I'll be mentioning some stuff that happens in the chapter.**

**By the way, I reply to all my reviews by private message (except for Anonymous Reader, since they're, well, anonymous), but I would still like to thank Flying Dragonite, Rogue Krayt Dragon, The-First-Polymithical, and Anonymous Reader for their highly encouraging reviews. I know it took ages but it would probably take even longer without you guys. Seriously, you should be given a medal for sticking with this story for so long. And this story is approaching 6k views... I'm amazed. So thanks again. :D**

**Unfortunately, this chapter is anything but happy. In fact, this chapter will feature somewhat graphic violence, so beware. More on that later.**

* * *

**Chapter 13**

"What do you think that room was?" Dexter asked, turning his head back to the Lucario on his back.

Aurealis didn't respond.

Dexter returned to facing forwards, but he kept talking. "I mean, a hidden cave underneath the temple? That's got to be something special..."

The Lucario didn't seem to hear, but by now Dexter was talking to himself. "I wonder what Grovyle was doing there," he said quietly, turning to the gecko in question, who lay unconscious in his arms.

The flight back progressed much like this. Aurealis, lost in his thoughts, which were all similar to Dexter's musings, stared down at the passing blur of the verdant trees while Dexter conversed singlehandedly. Every dozen seconds or so, the Flygon would glance at Grovyle concernedly, but the grass type was never awake. Near the beginning of the flight he had moaned and stirred slightly, but that was it.

That in itself was worrying – Reviver Seeds were known for awakening Pokémon fairly quickly, and if Grovyle was still unconscious, his condition had to be serious.

But after a while, Dexter had a concern of his own to worry about - the combined weight of his passengers was finally beginning to take its toll on him, and his wings began to ache.

Thankfully, the forest below them soon receded and gave way to Magnolia Village. Dexter couldn't help but sigh in relief and relaxed; able to withstand the last minute or two of flight now that the uncertainty factor was gone.

Finally, Dexter swooped in for a dive and landed on the ground beside the guild entrance. The impact was rougher than usual, and Aurealis almost fell off the Flygon's back.

"Sorry," Dexter panted as the Lucario jumped off. Immediately, the dragon type stretched his wings, then let them droop. "Got a little tired..."

"No problem," replied Aurealis, walking around to Dexter's front and checking on Grovyle, who was still out cold. The Lucario frowned. "I'm just glad you agreed to come with me... Without you, who knows whether I would have even found him..."

Dexter smiled. "Don't mention it. Always help a friend in need. Speaking of which..." He glanced at the Grovyle in his arms. "We should get him to the infirmary. He doesn't look too good."

Aurealis nodded gravely, but then he did a double take. "Hold on... Where's Sentry Sentret?"

Bewildered, Dexter hesitated as well and looked around, but true to Aurealis' word, there was no sign of the Sentret. The guild entrance suddenly seemed bare. "That's weird," the Flygon remarked, a hint of worry in his voice. "Sentry Sentret never abandons his post."

The two remained there for a while, pondering over this latest development, when Aurealis shook his head decisively. "We can ask Mismagius later, once Grovyle is tended to."

Dexter nodded his assent, and the two entered the guild, immediately plunged into its yellow artificial lighting. Once they climbed down the stairs and emerged in the main hall, they both froze in alarm and gaped.

Second to the morning announcements, late afternoon was the time the hall was busiest. But when they entered it, there was not a soul in sight, which made the hall look desolate and abandoned. Worse still was the silence, so absolute that all they could hear was the muffled whisper of the torch flames and their own breathing.

"Hello?" Dexter called, but the only answer he received was his echoes. He then stepped forward cautiously, as though he did not recognize the place without the usual population and rowdy atmosphere. "Where is everyone?"

Seeking to find the answer to the question, Aurealis concentrated on his aura capabilities. He sensed no one on this floor, or in the dining hall, so he tried expanding the range. For a moment, he perceived a rainbow of aura colors, but then a blinding pain in his head overcame him and he stopped with a groan.

"Are you all right?" Dexter asked, stepping back to the Lucario and nudging him.

As suddenly as it had come, the pain faded. "Yeah, just a headache," he muttered, rubbing his temples tentatively. "Let's go to the infirmary... I doubt anyone's there, but we could still treat Grovyle. I'm sure they'd understand."

"All right," Dexter agreed, and, still holding the limp gecko in his paws, followed Aurealis to the infirmary.

Seeing as there was no door, they walked right in, but it wouldn't have mattered either way since nobody was there. Out of regulation, Aurealis flicked the small bell. Even though neither of them held any hope of it working, they waited in suspense as its chime reverberated several times before dying. Nobody came.

Choosing to move on, Dexter turned around and gently laid Grovyle down on one of the straw beds, coincidentally the same one he'd rested on after the initiation test incident. Aurealis, meanwhile, inspected the shelves for the jar of Reviver Seeds. He found it and picked out a seed.

He then moved to Grovyle and, while Dexter pried open the grass type's mouth, plopped the seed inside. Aurealis and Dexter stood over him patiently, waiting for the seed to do its work.

"If you don't mind," Dexter put in, fidgeting anxiously under the thick silence, "I'm going to go look around, in case anybody left something. You know, like a note. This is starting to creep me out."

"Good idea," Aurealis remarked, glancing after him as he left. The Lucario then turned back to his partner, whose condition had not yet changed - Reviver Seeds generally took about a minute to kick in. While he waited, Aurealis looked around for Oran Berries, in case they were needed.

"Aurealis!" cried Dexter abruptly from the main hall, only to be followed by the booming slam of a shutting door.

Immediately alert, the Lucario rushed out into the hall, heart racing. It was completely empty, but there was only room with doors in the whole guild, so he didn't need to search. Running straight towards it, he slammed the door open and jumped inside, landing readily in a wide stance, his arms up.

Just like the hallway, though, Mismagius' chamber was empty. Adrenalin replaced by speechless confusion, the Lucario made a cursory inspection of the room. The tables, the chests, the crimson carpet; all the usual items seemed to be in order - including the fact that there was no Dexter here. Furrowing his brow in confusion, Aurealis was about to walk forward when the door behind him slammed shut. Startled, he turned back to look but stopped when he noticed the door at the back of the room opening simultaneously.

Berating himself internally for having forgotten about it, Aurealis faced it apprehensively and probed it for traces of aura, but the moment he did that, his headache returned with a vengeance, and he was forced grip his forehead in pain.

Taking advantage of the situation, several Mightyena ran out and Aurealis' blood ran cold. Right then, he needed to move, but he was petrified in shock - he couldn't sense the canines' auras. They were right in front of him, yet he couldn't sense them. He felt partially blind.

The Mightyena did not waste time observing his handicap. In mere seconds, they'd surrounded him and lunged.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the guild's infirmary, the Reviver seed began to have an effect at last. Grovyle's still face was reanimated as his eyelids twitched and his brow creased, and then, finally, his eyes blinked open.

For a few seconds his mind was blank, and he didn't recognize where he was. The ceiling was subterranean and lit with a lusterless yellow. The sight reminded him of the cave beneath Loran Temple, and his heart sank with the weight of the memories.

Bracing himself for the sight of Arden's corpse, the gecko sat up slowly, wincing at the soreness of his body. All things considered, though, he felt surprisingly little pain. Curious, he took a look around.

That was when his brain really woke up.

'_The guild?!_' he gasped to himself upon noticing, with wide eyes, his straw bed and the bell he was supposed to ring if he wanted anything and the assortment of colorful jars on the shelf. '_But that's...'_

Then, for the first time, he realized that he should be dead, and not only was he alive, he felt relatively fine. Sure, his standard of wellbeing was warped by the many unfortunate incidents in the short span of his known life, but the last thing he remembered were the baleful, sadistic glares of the Mightyena as they closed in on him. Surely they didn't leave him feeling anywhere near _okay_.

Fearful of what he would find, the Grovyle grit his teeth and turned downwards to examine his injuries. His heart skipped a beat at the sight of the blood, but he realized breathlessly that it was dry, and the wounds themselves were mostly minor. His side was blotched with a black bruise, but what he remembered as stabbing pain was now a mere prodding.

'_I'm alive,_' he said to himself unintelligently, gaping at his claws and carefully moving them as if doubting their existence. However, that lone thought spawned a bubbly feeling of hope inside him. '_If they left me alive,_' he realized, his mouth spreading into a smile, '_Maybe, somehow, Arden and Librarian Sceptile are alive, too!_'

Motivated by this epiphany, which asserted itself as truth inside him, Grovyle decided to stand up and stretch his limbs. Ignoring the several consequent cracks, the grass type turned his thoughts to how he was rescued. Before he could reach any conclusion, though, his eyes fell upon a jar of Oran Berries, and his stomach gave a loud grumble.

Possessed by his hunger, he padded over to the jar and grabbed a handful of the berries. Disregarding the limited supplies of the infirmary, the Grovyle practically gorged himself, until the sound of his wolfish eating reached his ears and he noticed how quiet the guild was.

His hunger sated anyway, he returned the now half-empty jar to its place on the shelf and made his way to the doorway. To his surprise, there wasn't so much as a shadow in the main hall, and the complete silence finally got to him.

'_Hey, where is everybody?_' he wondered to himself, walking over to the stairs. '_Is it nighttime?_'

However, one glance up the stairs rejected this theory. The sun was still in the air, casting a fading orange light down into the entrance. It was late afternoon, not long before dinner, and contrary to the current state of things, this was usually the main hall's busiest hour, second to the morning announcements.

Grovyle scanned the emptiness of the hall with a growing anxiety. The oppressive silence seemed to thicken the air and his breathing quickened, as if it had become more difficult.

"Hello?" he called, hunching slightly. "Anyone?"

No answer. Casting around somewhat wary glances, the grass type stepped through the hall and towards the rooms. At this point it was more about finding the Pokémon's whereabouts than the Pokémon themselves, so he peered into each room separately, searching for some item or sign that would clue him in. They were all devoid of such things, however, and suspicions began to creep to the center of his thoughts.

He quashed them, but then a small cluster of red stains in one of the rooms caught his attention. He didn't need to go any closer to know what they were, and his paranoid suspicions suddenly became very realistic. He stared at the blood, finding himself petrified.

'_Could it be that the criminal..._'

He wouldn't allow himself to think that way, but the fear was there, and he rushed out of the corridor to the best of his ability and made his way back to the main hall. His previous reservations about not trusting anyone out the window, he ran towards the only remaining room that could provide him answers - Mismagius' chamber.

Grovyle was about to knock on the door when, just his luck, it shot open and hit him in the face with such force that it knocked him onto his back. Yelping, he rubbed his nose and began swearing obscenely, but all his words and anger left him when he found himself staring up at a pair of Mightyena.

Finding himself unable to think, move, or even look away from their leering crimson eyes, Grovyle began to tremble.

"Get up," the left one snarled.

Grovyle barely heard them, overcome with images - no, memories - of tearing flesh. "Wh-What more do you want?" he managed to stutter, trying to shrink back further even though he was already on the ground. "I've done everything you've asked...!"

Ignoring him, the Mightyena glanced at each other and flanked him. Grovyle couldn't suppress a whimper of fear as they grabbed both his arms with their fangs and forced him to his feet.

"Grow a spine and walk," growled the other, and Grovyle almost fell down again when they shoved him forward, into Mismagius' chamber.

Too frightened to even look back at them, yet simultaneously uncomfortable having his back to them, the gecko did as he was told. His mind numb, he barely felt himself keep going and stop upon reaching Mismagius' red carpet, but when he did, they shoved him forward again, towards the door at the back of the room.

Suddenly it felt like all his experiences in the last few days had only existed to direct him beyond this door, and there was nothing more sinister. His memory flashed back to the bloodstains he'd seen on the floor near it upon returning from the Flat Fields. He remembered the nervous sensation he'd had, and was now reliving it tenfold.

Rather facing his captors than whatever evil waited in front of him, Grovyle dared to glance back helplessly at the Mightyena, but their crimson eyes were merciless and only served to scare him further. Hurriedly, he turned back to the door and stepped past it, the Mightyena following closely.

Testing the ground with the claws on his feet as if he were on thin ice, Grovyle moved slowly forward. He found himself descending a spiral staircase, lit only by the sickening yellow torchlight, as slowly as the canines behind him would allow. As he did, he couldn't help but feel like he was walking straight into the belly of the beast.

The only positive outcome of the long way down was that the monotony of it allowed him to regain some composure. His heart still hammered uncontrollably, but as he grit his teeth and forced himself to take deep breaths, he managed to bring his mind from its haze.

Even then, the situation was hopeless. He didn't have so much as a semblance of a fighting chance against the Mightyena, so all he could do was wonder where they were going. Wherever it was, it hit him that, for better or for worse, he was probably about to find out who the criminal was.

But then something else caught him off guard - the smell, faintly familiar but unplaceable. His nostrils flared at the acrid odor, which could only be described as sweet and meaty. It was a background sense at first, but soon it was ubiquitous and Grovyle found himself holding his breath, nauseated.

Risking another glance backwards, he noticed the Mightyena were also scrunching their sensitive noses. Grovyle took that as common ground enough to try takling.

"What's that smell?" the grass type asked, his trembling voice somewhat nasal as he refrained from breathing through his nose.

"Keep walking," one of them snapped.

He did, but soon the claustrophobic spiral stairs finally reached their end and widened into a long hall. Immediately upon entering it, Grovyle froze, his senses assaulted.

Besides the stench from before, which had now intensified, the air was laden with hushed whimpers and snivels. In the dim, flickering light of the hall, he could see, as far as his adjusting sight would allow, robust steel bars caging off six or seven cells on the left side of the room. Outside each cell sat two pairs of crimson eyes; two Mightyena.

'_This is a prison_,' Grovyle realized, and with a sinking feeling, he looked into the cell to his left and recognized Sentry Sentret, two Bellossom, Abby, Zero, Dexter, and...

"Aurealis!" the grass type choked, moving to run to the Lucario, who was on the ground, unmoving. He was bleeding from several scratches, none of which, fortunately, were particularly serious. In fact, unconscious, he looked almost peaceful compared to the others, whose faces were dark and eyes were wide with fear. They barely seemed to notice Grovyle as he neared.

Before Grovyle could get anywhere, though, the Mightyena restrained his arms, and he winced as their teeth dug into his skin. In spite of this, the grass type felt some anger stir within him at the sight of his friends' condition.

"Okay, okay, I'm here," he snapped impatiently at the Mightyena. "What do you want?"

The only answer they gave was to bite down on his arms to shut him up and force him onwards. Wincing, the gecko did as he was told, glancing back at his partner one last time. His attention returned forward, however, when the sickening smell from before returned with a vengeance and he found himself approaching the next cell.

Immediately, the Grovyle froze, for what he saw inside the cell would plague his dreams. There, heaped together, were the corpses of Pokémon, so charred and disfigured that he could barely recognize them. The fires that had caused their deaths were indiscriminate to skin color, size, shape, personality - all the same, their flesh was scorched and at places gone completely to expose the tissue beneath, all the same they were covered in each other's blood. Piled up as they were, in death their identity was gone; they were just a pile.

It was an indeterminate amount of time later that Grovyle was able to breathe, albeit in shudders. He hadn't noticed that the Mightyena had forced him onwards, and if he had, he would have seen that the contents of every cell past the first were the same. He didn't even notice that someone was talking to him until he was zapped with electricity.

Yelping, the grass type was brought to his senses enough to realize that he'd been crying and that he was still trembling. But he froze yet again when he noticed that it was Manectric, Mismagius, and Magmortar who stood in front of him, their faces ominous in the dark light.

"Y-You?" the Grovyle breathed, glancing at all three of them with wide eyes. "But, I don't..."

"That's right, there's three of us," Magmortar answered the unasked question gruffly. "You've been misinformed..."

The three criminals closed in on him, and he gulped nervously. He knew it would be best to keep them talking, but somehow he couldn't seem to think. "But... why? W-Why would you do this?"

Magmortar was about to answer, but Mismagius beat him to it. "I think we're getting off task here," she cooed, her normally mesmerizing voice sending chills down Grovyle's spine. "Where is Magnolia Relic?"

This caught the Grovyle off guard, and converted his emotions into anger. "What do you mean, 'where's Magnolia Relic?'" he cried. "You took it! You have what you want, so why did you have to kill them?! Why?!"

"Oh, you mean this?" Mismagius remarked, her voice dangerously calm as she brandished the stone from the temple cave. "This rock is nothing but a fancy rock!" she shrieked suddenly, flinging the stone at him.

Grovyle had little time brace for the impact, but he could never expect what happened. There was almost no physical pain when the stone struck his chest, instead the rock abruptly shone bright green and the grass type felt weak and dizzy. Alarmed, he staggered backwards, almost falling over.

The ornery faces of the three criminals broke into a similar expression of surprise. Uncertain, Mismagius floated over to the stone and picked it up, her eyes calculating. "Of course!" she gasped suddenly.

Grovyle, steadying himself, did not like where this was going. He didn't know much, but he had a sinking feeling he knew what she was going to say.

"We should have realized it the first time you miraculously survived," Mismagius said, turned upwards in thought. It was only Grovyle's fortune that she chose to keep talking. "We killed you that day, we made sure of it. But the snake must have gotten sentimental and given up Magnolia Relic just to save you."

Manectric and Magmortar also nodded their heads in realization, but Grovyle was still confused. However, he didn't get a chance to think about it as Mismagius turned back to him menacingly.

"I wonder what happens if we transfer the power of Magnolia Relic back into the stone," she mused, prolonging every word while slowly advancing towards the grass type. His breaths becoming short, Grovyle backed away. "You know what I think, Loran? I think you'll go back to being dead, like you're supposed to be."

Without warning, she short forward and forced the stone against his shoulder. Flinching, Grovyle tried to move away but all his muscles seized up, and he fell to his knees. He couldn't even think as a haze descended over his mind and blackness ate away at his vision.

Mismagius grinned delightedly as the Grovyle's skin paled and he grew thinner and more frail as though an invisible hand were crushing him. However, she turned her attention to her two partners for a moment. "Manny, Mag," she said casually, disregarding their grimaces at the nicknames, "now that we have what we want, you can take care of the others."

Had Grovyle been able to, he would have begged for them to stop or tried to warn his friends, but all he could do was moan weakly before collapsing completely. Their eyes meeting, Manectric and Magmortar only nodded and made their way back to the staircase. As they did, Magmortar readied his arm canon and Manectric's hide sparked with electricity in anticipation. The last batch of prisoners would burn like the others.

However, in spite of how smoothly their plans had gone the past few days, they had committed a serious mistake in keeping the remainder of the prisoners alive. Sometime during the short conversation with Loran, Aurealis had awoken, and in a limited amount of time the surviving prisoners had been able to take stock of the situation. They didn't understand exactly what was going on, but they knew enough.

And, the moment the two criminals rounded the corner, Zero gave a shout and the two were blinded by an explosion which blew the cell door clear of its hinges. Manectric, who had been slightly ahead of Magmortar, was slammed with it and was brought to the ground.

Instantly, the entire room burst into activity. Zero, Aurealis, Abby, and Sentry Sentret ran out the cage while the two Bellossom stayed behind to guard Dexter, who was momentarily incapacitated as a result of his Hyper Beam. At the same time, the group were surrounded by about two dozen Mightyena.

"I'll get Grovyle," Aurealis shouted, already running towards his green partner. Behind him, his cellmates started attacking the Mightyena, which rapidly closed in on them. But the Lucario didn't care about that at the moment.

He ran in a straight line, occasionally weaving past or dodging Mightyena who tried to stop him. One canine tried to tackle him, but he sidestepped and kept going. Another tried to claw him, but he Force Palmed it out of the way. He still couldn't sense them and the fact that he couldn't was probably the source of his headache, but he couldn't let that get to him.

Mismagius was now in view, but she had expected his arrival and blasted him with a Shadow Ball at close range. The Lucario staggered back a bit, grunting in pain, but dodged a second attack and struck out with a Metal Claw, the only move he knew that would have any effect.

Given no alternative, Mismagius released both Grovyle and the stone. Before she could retrieve it, Aurealis stood before it defensively. She glared at him intensely before vanishing into the shadows.

Finally freed from the draining power of the relic, Grovyle coughed and sputtered as though he'd been drowning. Aurealis helped him to his feet and the grass type shook his head to clear away the cobwebs.

"Are you all right?" the Lucario asked, his voice both impatient and gentle.

Grovyle looked up at him with dull eyes. Truthfully, he was not all right - he felt tired and weak, and his mind felt feverishly sluggish. "I... I don't think–"

"Aurealis, a little help!" came Zero's call. Both AuraBladers wheeled around and saw that the small group was having trouble with the massive amount of Mightyena. Zero, covered in scratches, was trying to fend off three Mightyena at once, and Abby was facing a similar predicament. Sentry Sentret was nowhere to be seen.

Aurealis turned briefly to Grovyle. "Stay here, okay? Don't try to fight."

Grovyle was about to protest, and Aurealis was about to ignore him and leave, but a fireball rocketed towards them. The Lucario managed to shove Grovyle out of the way but took the hit to his side.

From then on it wasn't a fight, it was a beat down. As the fighting type recoiled from the blow, his fur singed, Magmortar rushed from the crowd and hit him in the face ruthlessly with a Fire Punch. Grunting in pain, Aurealis could only reel back while the fire type followed up with another Fire Punch to the gut. For a moment, the Lucario seemed to tense up as his breath left him, but then he went limp. Magmortar retracted his arm, allowing the fighting type to fall to the ground, doubled over.

Horrified, Grovyle watched with wide eyes. _No one_ beat Aurealis that fast! Aurealis was a powerhouse, indestructible! What was happening?

The sight of Magmortar leveling his arm canon at Aurealis brought the grass type to his senses. Acting purely on instinct, Grovyle hobbled forwards and tackled the fire type. The much bulkier Pokémon stayed standing, but his arm canon had moved enough so that the fireball that shot out of it scorched the ground a clear meter away from Aurealis.

In response, Magmortar only growled and backhanded the Grovyle, sending him staggering back. When the gecko recovered from his daze, he found himself staring down the barrel of Magmortar's arm canon.

That was when a violent tremor suddenly shook the entire cave and a roar filled the chamber. Almost swept off their feet, neither Magmortar nor Grovyle could resist turning to face the noise.

Dexter had gotten back into the fight and, thanks to his size and strength, had been able to wipe out at least a third of the Mightyena. But now the remainder of them dog piled him, scratching and biting wherever they could. In horrible pain and frustration, the dragon had unleashed the full extent of his Earthquake move.

The one tremor soon gave way into the constant convulsion of the earth. The floor rumbled as it cracked and chunks of the ceiling began to fall precariously, kicking up clouds of dust, obscuring vision.

Weak to this kind of environment, Magmortar coughed and doubled over. Grovyle took the opportunity to move to his partner, but he wasn't much better off. In fact, the ground shook so violently that nobody was able to stand upright. The focus was pulled completely from the fight and onto dodging the deafening crashes of the collapsing ceiling.

Yelps and howls filled the air as several Mightyena were taken down, but Dexter's attack was uncoordinated and Grovyle found himself forced to dive right to avoid being crushed by falling rock. He was sore and his eyes stung from the dust, but he picked himself up enough to see that he had landed near a Magnolia Relic as well as the corpse of a Mightyena who had probably been sent to retrieve it but was unfortunate enough to get impaled by a particularly angular stone.

In that moment he was possessed by an idea. He didn't know if it would work but the situation was desperate; he had to try.

Not a minute later, a high-pitched "ENOUGH!" carried over the ear splitting noise and suddenly the earthquake ceased. The room was plunged into silence and the swirls of dust in the air parted to reveal Mismagius, surrounded by a purple glow, her face almost unrecognizably distorted by a combination of rage and concentration.

Most surprising of all, Grovyle, who had just moved away from the corpse of the Mightyena and the Relic, found himself unable to move. Gasping slightly, he looked over himself and discovered he was surrounded in the same purple glow. A quick glance around told him that his allies were in a similar predicament. That is, the allies he could see - Sentry Sentret and one Bellossom were unaccounted for.

"It's a Psychic attack," a voice beside him wheezed, and Grovyle turned to see Aurealis not too four southeast of him. The Lucario was still curled over and holding his stomach, and his brows were furrowed from trying to suppress the pain. "But, to hold us all like this... It takes an incredible about of energy, I... I've never seen–"

Mismagius did not wait for him to finish. "Now that we've all calmed down," she said, her voice like a song once again, but there was an audible strain to it. She turned to Magmortar, who was getting up somewhat shakily. "Mag, would be so kind as to take care of Dexter here?"

Her voice was obnoxiously sweet, but everyone knew what she meant. Grovyle watched anxiously, helplessly, as Magmortar strode over to the dragon, who was an easy target now that the five remaining Mightyena backed away from him. As Magmortar neared him, Dexter's eyes widened and he trembled visibly, but he couldn't move. He was kneeling slightly, the many scratches and bite marks taking their toll on him.

"Leave him alone!" Zero snarled, though a cold fear gripped him on the inside. He tried desperate to move but he might as well have remained still.

Seeing the coming events, Grovyle, Aurealis, Bellossom, and Abby all tried to struggle, but it was in vain.

At last, Magmortar reached the Flygon and, wasting no time, grabbed one of his antennae, ending the purple glow around him, and smashed the dragon's face into the ground. His cry of pain was muffled by the earth. Cruelly, Magmortar pulled Dexter's now bloodied face back up just to repeat the process.

Releasing Dexter's antenna, Magmortar let the Flygon collapse. He groaned in pain, only half conscious now, while Magmortar charged his arm canon. At this point Zero was yelling hysterically; everyone else was breathless; time seemed to stop, but Magmortar didn't.

Even though dragon types are more resilient towards fire than other types, eventually, even thick scales and an ability to survive in hot temperatures can be burned through. Dexter's body was engulfed in nearly white-hot flames. His grunt of pain soon escalated into an unadulterated roar of agony, drowning out any other sounds. He writhed and rolled, trying to escape, but Magmortar was relentless and merely adjusted his aim.

As sickening as it was, it was infinitely more haunting when Dexter's struggles gradually grew weaker until he was motionless, his wings and head limp. Magmortar stopped his attack to reveal the dragon's corpse. Scorched brown, bleeding red in places where tissue was exposed; the tattered remains of his wings draped beside him. One and the same with the rest of the burned corpses.

"Good, now Magmortar, would you be so kind as to fetch Loran and the Relic for me?" Mismagius said immediately, offhandedly, her voice somehow carrying over Zero's wails, Abby and the Bellossom's sobs.

The said Grovyle was crying as well, silently, feeling overwhelmed by horror, fear, grief, and guilt. He noticed them mention his name but was only snapped to attention when Magmortar grabbed him by the leaf on his head, Magnolia relic in the same hand, and began dragging him over to Mismagius.

Grovyle winced in pain but, even though he was no longer frozen by the Psychic move, he could do little to struggle. As he was dragged, this time it was Aurealis who found himself trembling anxiously and pleading for the gecko's life to be spared.

Like before, these pleas were ignored completely, and Grovyle was finally deposited in front of Mismagius. The grass type looked up at her - but this time, his face was blank with resignation.

"Finally, Magnolia Relic will be ours," Mismagius hissed, and she could have said 'mine' for all the desire and evil her voice portrayed.

Grovyle barely heard her, though; his senses were feeling dull at this point. Somewhere deep inside of him, he just wanted this to be over with.

That wouldn't take long, because Mismagius accepted the Relic from Magmortar and once again forced it against Grovyle's shoulder.

This time it was a very peaceful process. Dark clouds drifted over his vision, the cries of Aurealis and the sobs of others faded away, and finally the grass type collapsed, lifeless.

* * *

**I know, I know. Am I ever going to end a chapter with something other than a cliffhanger? Well, actually, if all goes according to plan, yes, this is the last cliffhanger. In fact, this might even be the second to last chapter!**

**Which brings me to some problems I had. One, it was extremely difficult to write this part because I felt I'd built up so much expectation to it. I don't know whether you found this story suspenseful, maybe you were bored the whole time, but for me, this is the moment I had imagined from the very beginning of the story. I knew I had to give it my best. But when I started writing it, I realized that I wasn't sure how to go about it. These are professional criminals, so I wanted to avoid the whole villain exposition thing where they explain who they are and why they're doing what they're doing. Basically, I wanted to avoid having the villain explain the mystery, but in doing so, I might have confused everybody. I hope that's not the case, but I really wanted to convey that the criminals aren't lounging around. They're aiming to succeed as quickly as possible, which means no unnecessary chatting with the protagonists.**

**I faced a similar problem with the fight scene, if you can even call it that. Originally, I wanted to have this grand, epic battle, but then I realized that 1) battles are actually really short; it's just movies make them seem drawn out, and 2) there's a huge skill gap between the heroes and the villains. It would be unrealistic to have a long fight here, because that would imply that the two sides are evenly matched. They're not. No amount of wishful thinking made me even consider Aurealis beating Magmortar, because Magmortar is an experienced professional whereas Aurealis just joined the guild. Sure, Aurealis seems pretty strong, but the villains are a league of their own. Well, except for the Mightyena; they're kind of pushovers.  
**

**In reality, I think Dexter is... or was... the strongest protagonist. He's a pretty dang powerful dude, which is why they killed him off specifically. Speaking of which... yeah, lots of death in this chapter. I would have labeled this a tragedy but there's not really a tragic hero. BUT! All hope is not lost, because Grovyle had a plan. Kind of.**

**Which reminds me, a little explanation is in order about how Magnolia Relic works. The one who wields it is the one for whom the Relic works. That's why Mismagius can use it to drain the Relic's energy out of Grovyle. But, if Grovyle were to touch it on his own will, he could do that. Might not seem logical, but that's how a lot of items in the PMD games seem to work.  
**

**So! Before I continue to wallow in self-criticism, I shall go. Hopefully the next chapter will arrive sooner. :D**


End file.
